Summary: The Governor stabs Milton and leaves him with an imprisoned Andrea. Milton slowly dies and turns. Andrea tries to escape before he kills her. The Governor's men attack the prison but they get sent off. Carl kills somebody he didn't need to kill. The Governor angrily kills all of his men. Rick goes to Woodbury after seeing what The Governor did and they make peace. The Governor is gone. Rick finds Andrea who is bitten and dies. Rick lets the Woodbury people live alongside his group in the prison.
The Good: I appreciate that this episode started off with the exact same shot as "Seed". Only this time it isn't a walker that provides the threatening visual, but The Governor who has become the main threat. I liked the developments for Carl. It was genuinely shocking when he murdered the scared Woodbury citizen, and his new take on how to survive is genuinely chilling. I was pleased that the show treated this development as a big deal, since it is downright horrifying to see a child turning into a psychopathic murderer, and both Rick and Hershel seem genuinely concerned for his mental wellbeing. For a show that has done such an abysmal job of handling its characters, it's refreshing to see somebody actually develop a little bit. The Bad: Unfortunately this episode was no good and it was a huge anticlimax. This half season was chock full of bland set-up that really tested my patience, and I needed a big climax here to make me feel like it was worth going through tedious episode after tedious episode. But that just didn't happen at all. This episode gave us absolutely no resolution for the central conflict of the season, and I was left scratching my head with all of the loose ends that were left hanging. In no regard was this a satisfying season finale. This episode had hyped up a big action sequence to take place. Everything felt like it was building towards a huge blow-off, but it never came. The sequence we got was donwright terrible. The Governor took his men into the prison but the moment some gunfire came, they all ran away like headless chickens. I don't know what was worse: the fact that everyone from Woodbury panicked and ran away from two people with guns, or the fact that Glenn and Maggie were somehow so incapable that they didn't kill a single person from Woodbury. The plan that Rick's group came up with was pretty awful too. Apparently just chasing off the attackers was enough to declare a victory. Why would that be the case? In the last few episodes it was made crystal clear that the only way to settle the matter was to kill the Governor. But now they thinkt hey have won even though they literally killed nobody and accomplished nothing. Furthermore, the follow-up attack plan was stupid. Why on Earth would they think that three people would be enough to attack Woodbury? Also, the timing of the attack was nonsensical. Rick gave the Governor just the amount of time he would have needed to fortify Woodbury before he sent out an attack. That's just idiotic. Furthermore, Rick is really lucky that the Governor decided to kill his own men or they would have been utterly screwed. Speaking of which, the Governor killing his men was another part of the episode I didn't like. The moment made sense and I could understand that story that the writers were telling. But the big issue is that the direction is not one that I'm interested in. To have the Governor be reduced to just an insane guy feels lazy and it isn't very rewarding in terms of interesting character work. The Governor has been oversimplified, and I don't think that the show is better for it. The episode "Walk With Me" promised us a character who was morally grey; a man who was willing to do horrible things as long as it was the right thing to protect his people. Now all we are left with is a crazy guy who just wants revenge. That's much less interesting than the character we had before, and I can't say that I'm excited to see more from him. And then we get to the Andrea storyline. Oh man. The character of Andrea has been mishandled to an unbelievable degree. Her sudden pacifistic nature has come right out of nowhere and unfortunately the writers have decided to make it her defining characteristic as she dies. When she dies, all we hear about is how she wanted to help everyone. This doesn't work at all because it is completely at odds with the character who we had grown to know for the past 3 seasons. It appears that the writers thought that inserting a random new character trait onto this character with zero explanation was acceptable. Well it wasn't, and it completely alienated me from everything Andrea was involved with. So in the end, I didn't care at all when she died. The moment was wasted. Furthermore, the show tried to play up the Andrea/Michonne relationship which is laughable considering how little we know about it. The rest of the episode had other little things that really bothered me. I found it hard to believe that Tyreese and Sasha would agree to go to the prison with Rick, especially considering how he screamed at them in a previous episode. I can't believe that Tyreese didn't bring that up when he was speaking with Rick. Another little thing that bothered me was Chandler Riggs' acting. He's just not at a high enough level to make me fully understand Carl, and that is taking me out of the show. Lastly, the vanishing of Lori's ghost was a stupid moment. Apparently all Rick needed to do was to let other people into the prison. But this makes zero sense because Rick's guilt towards Lori's death was because he wasn't cold enough when dealing with the prisoners. So how the hell does softening up resolve Rick's inner struggles? It doesn't, but for some reason the show thinks it does. It made for a really stupid moment. The Unknown: Where did the Governor go? What's he going to do next? What happened to Woodbury? Why did everyone abandon it? Why didn't Rick choose to go there instead of staying at the prison? Best Moment: Carl telling Rick that he couldn't risk making a mistake that gets somebody else killed was apretty scary moment. It made sense that Carl would think this way because of everything he has been through. Character of the Episode: Carl. Conclusion: It's ironic that the show finally found something worthwhile to do with Carl as it botched everything else. This season finale was in no way satisfying, and it ended off the season on a very disappointing note. This season dropped off in quality in the second half. The first half had some really solid television and I enjoyed it. But this second half was a trainwreck. Outside of "Clear", nothing really worked and the overall story was a complete mess. Nothing paid off, there were no memorable moments, characters continued to make no sense, and the direction the story took was disappointing. This second half was a huge failure and it's going to be hard for the show to recover from it. Score: 40
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Summary: Rick decides to give Michonne to the Governor. Daryl objects to this. Merle notes that Rick won't have the stomach to do it so he acts on his own and kidnaps Michonne. Daryl goes after them. Eventually, Merle lets Michonne go when she suggests turning back. Merle continues on and lays a trap for the Governor. He tries to kill the Governor but fails, so the Governor kills him. Daryl cries when he finds Merle as a walker. At the prison, Glenn proposes to Maggie and Rick decides to put democracy back into the group.
The Good: I appreciated the focus on Merle and Michonne in this episode. There was some solid moral conflict explored in this episode and I did appreciate the overall look we got over the group's leadership. Granted, there were some major problems here (see: The Bad), but I appreciate the effort. Merle had a pretty good episode. Watching the group's friction with Merle is always a blast, and having such an unrepentant prick amongst the group feels so fresh. Furthermore, I like that Glenn's scene with Daryl nicely suggested that Merle's crimes have been too serious to be easily forgiven, and that even if Merle changes, he will still be an outcast in the group. He will always be hated and he can't simply atone for his bad behaviour in the way that Daryl did. The writers went in the direction of having a fellow outcast be the only person who was able to see Merle's true feelings. It's an age-old story and it works fine for some easy entertainment, though there were some pretty large issues with it (see: The Bad). At the very least we got some decent action sequences with walkers which remain a high point of the series. The ending action sequence was the best part of the episode. It was tense and exciting and it really felt like there was going to be major consequences for everyone involved. In the end, Merle was given a death fitting for his character and we were given a sad scene as Daryl stumbles upon his brother as a walker. Glenn proposing to Maggie is a fine side plot. Nothing too interesting, but it works for what it is. The Bad: Skipping over Rick's decision to give Michonne to the Governor was stupid and it came right out of nowhere. What's worse is that there is no way that Rick could be stupid enough to agree to this. There is no reason for him to trust the Governor, and the fact that nobody is objecting openly against Rick's idiotic decision is even more ridiculous. Honestly, the character of Rick was totally butchered in this episode. Not only does he make a stupid decision, but he then sends Daryl, Merle and Michonne to likely deaths and he doesn't lift a finger to help them. That's so out of character for the man that stormed Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie. Rick wasn't the only character who was acting inconsistently. Michonne magically became an all-seeing wise woman as she was apparently able to read Merle like a book and perfectly deduce his issues. And to add on, she also magically became one of the most talkative people in the show after so many episodes of silence. I don't even think she spoke this much to Andrea, her friend of many months. It's such a sharp change that only goes to show how poorly written this episode was. The worst character to be sabotaged was absolutely Merle himself. Merle stood out because he was a complete asshole with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He's the kind of person to loot mattresses to find dope, to torture people without blinking an eye, and to kill allies whenever it suited him. The only person who he ever cared about was Daryl. Yet somehow, Merle is portrayed in this episode as a regretful rogue who feels terribly about all the bad that he has done. Where the hell did this come from? It's at odds with everything we have learned about Merle so far, and it makes his mission to go kill the Governor make little sense. The only person Merle listened to is Daryl, and Daryl wanted Merle to redeem himself, not kill himself. It's so disappointing to see Merle get a "heroic death" following a sudden 180 on his character, and it makes it feel like the Merle in this episode is a completely different person from the Merle we have gotten to know. This show is constantly failing in the character development department. Once again, a character that finally begins to grow and develop is immediately killed off to surprise the audience. Would it hurt to have some character development for the people that aren't going to die? This show has always been pathetic with its character development, and killing off the people who get the most attention certainly doesn't help the issue. The Unknown: Will there be a big action sequence in the next episode? How is it going to go down? Will Daryl make it back to the prison? Or will he attack the Governor in a rage? Best Moment: Merle gunning down the Woodbury men before being subdued and killed. Character of the Episode: Merle. Even though he was ruined in this episode, he still had all of the best scenes. Conclusion: This episode provides some fun entertainment and there are some signature TWD action scenes. But when you look under the surface, the characters make little sense and the poor writing hurts what should have been a standout episode. Score: 56 Summary: Milton tells Andrea about The Governor's offer about Michonne and he shows her The Governor's torture chamber. Andrea escapes Woodbury in the night and The Governor goes after her. Andrea manages to elude him and gets to the prison but The Governor catches her at the last second. Martinez takes Tyreese's group to collect some walkers. Tyreese is horrified and a fight breaks out between him and Allen.
The Good: Milton's little resistance was good and it made sense for his character. His relationship with The Governor is important to him, but Milton certainly doesn't agree with what he is doing. This leads to a half effort resistance from Milton who tries to prevent The Governor's atrocities, though Milton's fatal mistake seems to be that he refuses to do anything about the man himself. Milton is a horrible liar, so it also made sense that The Governor deduced that Milton was working against him. I liked seeing The Governor easily spit lies out at Tyreese and his group. He is such a good manipulator, and I appreciate that he thought out how to keep Tyreese's loyalty to ensure that he won't be a problem. The Bad: The main part of this episode was really bad. The whole chase sequence was atrocious and probably the worst piece of television this show has done yet. There was a distinct lack of urgency as Andrea never showed actual fear of the Governor in her body language. This was especially prevalent when Andrea casually walks out of the building when the Governor is seemingly beaten. It's a very dumb scene that hurts the intelligence of Andrea. Andrea's character took a hit too. Andrea is a survivor, yet she doesn't act like one. Here she is clearly just a damsel in distress and she doesn't behave like a survivor. She is constantly ambushed by walkers in stupid ways, and she somehow isn't able to quickly navigate a hostile building to efficiently escape from The Governor. We're talking about someone who survived practically alone for 6 months, and here she is behaving like a total rookie. The Governor is even worse here. His evil behaviour did nothing to me and felt at odds with the character we have come to know. He taunts Andrea and casually strolls to a building, which for all he knows could be flooded with walkers. Had this show been realistic, The Governor's loud and careless behaviour should have gotten him killed. The threat of walkers took a massive hit in this episode with loads of stupid scenes. The sudden roadside ambush on Andrea was really poor. It's extremely predictable that a walker would attack with the lingering shot on Andrea's face. Furthermore, how convenient that all of the walkers somehow stayed out of Andrea's sight until the attack started. These stealth walkers make absolutely no sense. Speaking of stealth walkers, what was with the walkers sneaking up on Andrea in the building. Shouldn't they be knocking stuff over left and right? Furthermore there is an atrocious moment where many walkers are standing stupidly in a staircase doing absolutely nothing. What the hell? How are they all there? That's absurdly convenient. What's worse is what comes next. After Andrea blatantly attracts their attention, they don't swarm the door for whatever reason. Hell the door has a broken window on it, so they should still be able to see her! Then it gets worse. Andrea opens the door and somehow none of the walkers try to go after the easy target behind the door and try to kill The Governor instead. The walkers are portrayed so stupidly here. But along with that, they are portrayed as weak. The Governor seriously survived a horde of like 20-30 walkers? Well walkers are just useless aren't they! So to conclude, this episode portrayed the walkers as weak, stupid and not worthy of our main characters' attention. So why should we even view them as a threat? The plot was as convenient as possible to get The Governor to Andrea. Of course Andrea would just walk casually through a field with no cover when she knows she is being hunted. Some survivor she ended up being. And naturally The Governor somehow found her exact location by just looking around. That's so improbable. And I can't stress how dumb it was that The Governor just sat there and honked his horn at her until she ran away. Just get out of your car and get her you idiot! There should be an extremely slim chance of him finding her again after he loses her. But of course The Governor needs to find exactly where Andrea is hiding, so he does. But what's worst is when The Governor conveniently catches Andrea right outside of the prison in the most generic and uninspired way ever. The Governor is somehow silent as the wind and he closes ground on Andrea absurdly easily. This episode failed hugely for one main reason. This isn't character drama anymore. The way the episode is directed suggests that this episode is supposed to get its value by leaving us on the edge of our seats. Yet I never felt a singly drop of tension due to the abysmal execution of the episode is just about every department. The writing is awful, the acting is nothing special, the directing boring and the soundtrack sounds like stock music. Nothing about this episode inspires tension so it fails at its primary purpose. The B-story of this episode is really bad too. Allen and Tyreese's conflict is not good at all. I don't care about these characters at all, so their conflict does nothing for me. Furthermore, neither men are likable in their scenes. Allen is just a prick and we are clearly meant to hate him. But Tyreese? I don't like him either. He is hypocritical, cruel and selfish throughout the episode and it feels so odd to see him placed in the hero role for this story. I don't like him at all, so I don't care for his story whatsoever. The Unknown: So Michonne did know those walkers. Who were they to her? What did they do that made them deserve their fate? What will The Governor do with Andrea? How about Milton? Now that the Governor knows he is a traitor, I don't imagine Milton will face zero punishment. Best Moment: The Governor lying to Tyreese. Character of the Episode: Milton. Conclusion: This episode was atrocious and easily the worst of the series thus far. The writing was terrible, the tension non-existent and the actual cinematic aspects were totally bland. This episode did absolutely nothing for me and managed to be way worse than the lame "Arrow on the Doorpost". This season is going downhill, and I seriously hope that the final two episodes can get something worth watching out of this Woodbury storyline. Score: 37 Summary: Andrea arranges a meeting between Rick and the Governor so they can work things out. They discuss things and subtly threaten each other. Daryl and Martinez interact outside the room. At the prison, Merle wants to show up to kill the Governor bur Glenn refuses to do it. The Governor offers a peace with Rick if he gives him Michonne. Rick says he will think on it and the two parties part. The Governor has no intention of letting Rick survive but pretends all is fine with Andrea. Rick is aware of the Governor's intentions and refuses to give him Michonne.
The Good: The episode opened up nicely. The silent sequence of Rick and Daryl searching around some mystery location was interesting and tense. I was never quite sure what they were looking for and that made me invested in the scene. The Governor walking out of the shadows at the end was nice and his mannerisms were fun. The interactions between Rick and The Governor were good for the most part. The odd line is really good and I like that they have been allowed to build a more personal rivalry. It helps that David Morrisey and Andrew Lincoln are both excellent in this episode, adding to the chemistry of the scenes. Furthermore, I thought that The Governor's request of Michonne made sense with his character, and even better was him deciding to kill Rick anyways after he gets Michonne. It was consistent with what he has done this season. Rick not buying into The Governor's deal was also a good development and it made sense. The interactions between Daryl/Martinez/Hershel/Milton were all good fun. They worked as nice little character bonding moments to showcase the four characters. Daryl and Martinez sharing a cigarette as the two main henchmen worked as an emotional scene. The Bad: The episode is fine on paper but it does nothing for me on screen. The scenes between Rick and The Governor try to be Tarantino-esque but they fail. The issue is that the scenes lack suspense and the whole gun-under-the-table dynamic doesn't work at all. This is because it's blatantly obvious that Rick and The Governor aren't going to die in this scene. They will both survive and the show does nothing to make you think otherwise. The dialogue is usually what really makes these scenes stand out, but it's so ordinary here. There ends up being no drama and very little of actual substance happening. The show is capable of pulling off scenes like this (look at "Nebraska" from season 2), but this wasn't done well enough. The bigger issue is that there is literally nothing else going on in this episode. As a whole, this episode is useless to the actual story. Nothing is accomplished. The two factions start the episode at war, and then they end it off at war. Nothing changes. The episode is pointless. I'm willing to accept a bottle episode without any plot progression, but it must include the appropriate emotions and character significance to work. A few scenes of characters talking/arguing does not accomplish this. The slow pacing doesn't help either. This episode drags a lot and there isn't anything of interest that actually gripped me or had me sucked into what I was watching after the opening sequence. Slow pacing isn't always bad, but there must be some emotion that is being examined with this pace. Hell look at "Clear", that episode didn't have plot progression and was also a slower episode, but it was terrific. This one is the total opposite. I liked that Rick got a new conflict about whether to give up Michonne to survive or not. Unfortunately it leads nowhere and became a complete waste. Instead of seeing Rick grapple with this decision, he jumps to the obvious decision that it's meaningless to do so since the Governor will kill them all anyways. Because of this, it seems pointless to bring up the Michonne conflict if it isn't going to be explored in any way. And that's a shame because it had potential to be an interesting conflict. Glenn and Maggie having sex was odd. The scene was shot strangely and I was annoyed by them just abandoning their job. If everyone dies because the Woodbury people attack, it's all their fault for deciding to have sex for some reason. The Unknown: It's obvious that the deal won't go through, but I'll ask the question anyways. Will Rick sacrifice Michonne for his people? Best Moment: Daryl and Martinez having a smoke was nice. Character of the Episode: The Governor. Conclusion: This was poor. It was slow, dull, meaningless and devoid of tension. This was probably the most forgettable episode of the show so far. Score: 47 Summary: Rick, Carl and Michonne go on a run back to Rick's neighbourhood to find guns. They get to the police station but all the guns are gone. They start looking around and find a man who is surviving there and tries to kill them. They knock him out and Rick realizes it is Morgan. Rick waits for him to wake up while Carl and Michonne go to get a picture of Lori. Carl initially tries to go alone but Michonne offers to help him and they bond. Morgan wakes up and tells Rick what has happened since Rick left. Duane is dead and Morgan has gone crazy. Rick offers to bring Morgan back but Morgan refuses. Rick takes half of Morgan's guns and the group heads back.
The Good: This was easily the best episode the show has done in a while. The main story took the back seat for this episode as we got a character-driven bottle episode which delivered hugely, improving on almost every issue I've had with the show as a whole. The bookend opening and closing sequences were excellent. The show had really stopped paying attention to the smaller aspects of this world since season 1, so I was delighted to see two patient and lengthy sequences in this episode that did little to nothing to actually forward the story. The world-building bits like the sign for Erin were wonderful and succeeded in immersing me into the setting of a zombie apocalypse once again. The show had focused too much on the drama aspect of the show without enough emphasis on the fantastic world that was created. This episode fixed that. The man with the orange backpack was terrific. It was an outstanding way to show how dark the main characters have become. Having them finally stop only to take his stuff after he died was absolutely perfect, and was a great way to end the episode. The detail and effort put into this episode was reminiscent of season 1. I already touched upon the world building, and it continued throughout the episode. The set for Rick's neighbourhood was fantastic with lots of detail put into it, making Morgan's camp feel like a real location that nicely conveyed his new crazy personality. The episode also pleasingly had build-up in it. There were several slower scenes that let the impact of the show fully sink in. I would always take scenes of Rick, Michonne and Carl slowly approaching Morgan's camp over the endlessly dull conversations characters have in other episodes. The episode also nails its pacing. The episode is patient at all the right times, with exciting action and powerful character moments coming in at all the right times. The dual storylines later in the episode were really strong. All of the scenes with Morgan were terrific. Lennie James was even better than he was in "Days Gone Bye", bringing the insanity of Morgan to life in a way that didn't feel forced or unlikely to happen. Morgan's story about what happened since we last saw him was absolutely heartbreaking. The tales of him waiting for a call from Rick really played on our imagination, allowing us to imagine a lonely image of him which aided to the emotions presented in the episode. Worse was how Duane died. It was an absolutely tragic way for Morgan to lose his son and Lennie James acted the scene perfectly, allowing us to understand how the manner of Duane's death led to him losing his mind. What was better was how the episode paralleled Rick with Morgan. In Morgan, Rick got to see a vision of who he might become if he loses himself. It's an effective way of restoring Rick's humanity and purpose after what has been a really tough season for him. This is a perfect way to get him to start abandoning his grief over Lori's death to really focus on cementing a future for Carl, himself and everyone else at the prison. Carl and Michonne's side story was surprisingly effective. I had low expectations going in, but it had a surprising amount of emotional resonance. Carl going back to find a picture of Lori felt very real, and was exactly the type of emotional attachment one would feel to a lost loved one. I've usually felt a disconnect with Carl throughout the show, but here he felt real and I could relate with him really well. Chandler Riggs put in a better than usual performance here too which was really refreshing. I thought Michonne had her best episode yet. She got to show some character here in a few scenes and even made me laugh a couple times. Plus she got to act as a human later in the episode as she makes an attempt to relate with Rick by telling him that she also sees dead people. This is so much more development in one episode than she has gotten int he whole show before this. The Bad: The main concern I have is that the success of this episode doesn't necessarily mean that the show is improving. This episode didn't fix my issues with the season as a whole, rather it avoided them. I get the sense that this episode was a one-off, and when we get back to the main story we will still get the same issues with characterization as before. It's disappointing that an episode this good doesn't really give me hope that the show will get better. Michonne somehow getting the picture of Lori so quickly was really stupid. Are we really supposed to assume she did so that quickly and stealthily? Some poor editing let that scene down. Surely Rick wouldn't want Carl to enter Morgan's house on his own. Carl appeared to hardly be paying attention as he walked up the stairs. One step on the wire and he's dead. There's no way that Rick would risk Carl's life like that. (Partial credits to Ben F. for some of the content in this section) The Unknown: Will we see Morgan again? Will he ever join up with the prison group? Did Michonne lose her boyfriend in the apocalypse? What is her story anyways? This episode gave us a really neat clue. Best Moment: Morgan giving his story of how Duane died. The descriptions were vivid and frightening, while James' performance gave the scene so much weight. It's impossible not to feel for him after that. Character of the Episode: Morgan. Conclusion: This was fantastic. "The Walking Dead" took a step back and managed to dish out what I think has to be its best episode since "Days Gone Bye". So much was done correctly here and it made for a complete viewing experience. Even though I'm unsure that this episode signifies a change in the show, it was still damn good. Score: 75 Summary: The group discusses what to do and end up staying at the prison. Andrea decides to escape Woodbury to speak with her old friends in an attempt for peace. She gets Milton to help her leave. Milton encounters Tyreese's group and brings them into Woodbury. Andrea arrives at the prison and isn't treated the way she was expecting. Her peace offer doesn't work out and she leaves after the group tells her to kill the Governor. She can't bring herself to do it.
The Good: The beginning of the episode had the best scenes which continued Rick's development. Having Hershel finally snap and let Rick know that he put his family in his hands was terrific and provided some much needed emotion from the characters. I also loved seeing Carl tell Rick to step down as leader. It's a great wake-up call for Rick to give him some impetus to get back into form. The Bad: The Woodbury story is a big failure for me. It's so hard for me to invest in seeing these people arm up and there are absolutely no emotions for me to latch onto to give me something to care about or react to. Andrea's arc in general suffered badly from this. Out of nowhere, she becomes a pacifist and goes for peace and ends up in this conflicted position. The big issue is that the Governor is clearly an insane liar so it's very unclear why Andrea sticks with him. All she has to do is kill him and take the lead for herself and then there is peace for everyone. She comes off as an idiot for not being able to kill him and her story fails to get sympathy from me. Her reunion with the prison group disappointed. The scenes are so empty and devoid of any emotion. It feels so awkward and forgettable when it really should have been much more emotional. Both parties are so antagonistic to each other the entire time and it hardly comes off like they are old friends. Rick then oddly gives Andrea a fond farewell which was tonally off from the rest of the scene which suggests to me that this was intended to be a more emotional scene. It completely fails in that regard. Michonne remains a poor character who I don't care about in the slightest. Her scene with Andrea was very poor and doesn't at all convey that these two used to be friends. Michonne is so awful for her and reveals that she decided to make her an enemy because the Governor had control over her. It's really dumb and makes Michonne seem heartless for just cutting Andrea out and then saying so many horrible things to her here. Surely Merle should still be imprisoned. Why would anyone trust him? The Unknown: Will Tyreese's group's knowledge of the prison play a role int he war to come? Will there be any consequences for Andrea for going to the prison? Will she be able to turn against the Governor int he future? Best Moment: Hershel snapping was great. Character of the Episode: Hershel. Conclusion: This was weak. A lot of the episode lacked emotion and it felt empty and lifeless as a result. A big disappointment. Score: 52 Summary: Rick walks off into the forest to collect himself and Glenn puts himself in charge. Glenn is angry and wants vengeance. The Governor puts Andrea in charge of Woodbury while he collects himself. He promises not to attack the prison but he leaves with some men on a supply run, which Andrea is suspicious about. Daryl realizes that being with Merle won't be like it was before and he convinces Merle to go back to the prison. The Governor attacks at the prison and a massive gunfight ensues. Axel dies. The Governor breaks down the fences and releases a horde of walkers inside the fences. The Governor leaves with the prison a mess.
The Good: I enjoyed both Woodbury and the prison responding to the open war they are now involved in. Glenn's desire for revenge and open combat made sense and I really liked seeing him cave under the pressure of being the leader now. His relationship with Maggie also got some solid development as they both addressed what happened in Woodbury. The Governor and Andrea's interactions in Woodbury were solid too and I liked the way that the Governor treated Andrea. He let her be in charge but in exchange decided to secretly attack the prison. Rick's story remains sad and engaging. His decaying mental state after losing Lori is powerful to watch and Andrew Lincoln is very good at conveying Rick's emotions. Rick and Hershel's conversation in the middle of the episode was extremely strong. Hershel is being the voice of reason to Rick, helping him overcome the complex emotions he must be feeling. Daryl's story was fine. His mini-arc told the good story of him realizing how life with Merle isn't going to be the same as it was before after everything that has changed him. The dialogue between the brothers was strong as usual, and the action sequence was pretty fun. The climactic battle was even better. The setpiece was very nicely done and it was impressive how many of the characters felt exposed and at risk of death. The Governor's attack was a total surprise and it left me feeling that an important character may be facing some major consequences. While that didn't happen, we still got a very entertaining gunfight that provided a strong climax to the episode. The Bad: Axel was handled really badly. He finally gets some development here and has some nice interactions with Carol. But then it's all meaningless because he dies. It seems like a waste of a character, and worse yet, now all of the prisoner characters are dead making their storyline almost entirely pointless. The death was surprising, but we need to care about characters before they die so it means something. Also, the Governor must be one hell of a marksman to make that shot (and without a sniper at that!). It's a shame that after that one shot, every single person failed to shoot accurately. Martinez was the biggest culprit as he missed Rick with so many shots when he was wide open. And then when Rick runs into the open, Martinez just leaves. Why didn't he kill him? Daryl and Merle's story was extremely generic and it wasn't written particularly well. The whole "daddy lashings" thing felt so forced (how did Merle not know about this before?), and it was a contrived way to get Merle to agree to go back to the prison. Another nitpick, but there is no way in hell that Daryl heard that baby crying from so far away. It was a poor example of sound design. The Unknown: It appears that the Governor's motive behind the assault was to damage and not kill the prisoners. Perhaps he hopes that the walkers he released in there will kill them all? That would prove to be a good way to explain how the prison group all died. A horde broke the fence and killed them all. But, it seems like Andrea won't buy whatever the Governor tells her. What will that lead to? Will Rick be back in leadership now? Will he retaliate against the Governor? Best Moment: The climactic battle was really fun. Character of the Episode: Glenn. Conclusion: This ended up being a solid episode. There was good follow-up and a strong climax. Enjoyable television. Score: 66 Summary: Merle and Daryl begin to fight but when Rick's group arrives to get Daryl, they both escape in the chaos. Merle isn't allowed back at camp so Daryl decides to go with him. Andrea starts taking leadership over the rioting crowds of Woodbury while The Governor isolates himself. Hershel takes a liking to Tyreese's group and they try to convince Hershel to let them stay. Rick returns and Hershel almost convinces him to let Tyreese's group stay. Rick has a vision of Lori and has a breakdown, telling Tyreese's group to leave and they do.
The Good: Merle and Daryl were the strongest part of the episode. I loved seeing the crew interact with Merle after everything he's done and the fact that they refused to let him stay at the prison made sense. I especially loved that Merle didn't resort to begging but rather continued insulting everyone to keep consistent with his character. Rick getting frustrated and knocking him out was a lovely moment. I also liked Daryl's decision to abandon the group and go with Merle. It's an interesting new development and I would like to see where the story goes for them. The effect that Daryl's departure had an effect on everyone which I really liked to see. His loss was felt and it has changed the dynamic of the group and has severely weakened them. I thought the conflict with Tyreese's group was pretty good. It was an effective way to highlight the differences between Rick and Hershel and provided the best moment of the episode at the end (see: Best Moment). Tyreese's group came off as good people, and while I'm not yet invested in them, I want to learn more about these characters. I especially liked the details of their backstory with Jerry who had an emergency bunker and the group of 25 who all died when a herd attacked. The Bad: The opening rescue didn't work and it made last episode's cliffhanger feel completely pointless since it led nowhere. I thought the rescue failed because it wasn't built up and felt stupid. Do we just assume that nobody kept guard in case they came back to Woodbury? That's pretty dumb. Furthermore, the sudden arrival was nowhere near as satisfying as the intensely built up rescue of Glenn and Maggie. The rest of the episode suffered greatly from the slow pace. I have found that these longer seasons have resulted in too many slow episodes and that plays against the shows strengths. The quality of the show is a far cry from what it was in season 1 and the weak characterization sticks out like a sore thumb in episodes like these where not much really happens. This slow pace is really grating on me now and I want to see the show move at a quicker pace with more focus on drama since that is what made the show so good to begin with. This episode had too much talking. The worst part is that the talking didn't really accomplish much. A bunch of characters just discussed minor unimportant things that I'm certain won't be important later. The biggest example of this was Glenn and Maggie's conflict which seems to exist solely to give both characters something to do in this episode. Furthermore, the C-stories in this show consist of characters just talking and grieving and doing very little. This show could use some of the side stories that "Lost" had as those side storylines allowed the characters to accomplish something while giving us a better understanding of them. It would be much more interesting than what we have now. The Woodbury storyline wasn't great either. I thought the riot was really stupid. Why would everyone just decide to leave Woodbury? Surely they would instead want to just have more guards to ensure safety. But instead they inexplicably want to go outside to their deaths. The riots would have made more sense if they happened after a walker killed one of their citizens to show them that Woodbury may not be any safer than the outside. Michonne still refuses to speak like a normal human. At least she is consistent in being an unrealistic character. The Unknown: Are there other walkers inside the walls? Maybe it was more than just the one. Is Andrea taking over leadership now? What will she do? Is she going to try to bring about a peace with our main group? What will become of the Governor? What does he plan to do? What is his current mental state like? Where will Tyreese's group go now? Perhaps we will see them arrive at Woodbury. Best Moment: Rick is on the verge of letting Tyreese's group stay at the prison but suddenly ghost Lori appears to him, reminding him of what happens when he trusts other people. This breaks Rick and caused the most emotional scene of the episode as Rick nearly loses his mind to the PTSD that is affecting him. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: Not the best way to resume the show. The episode wasn't particularly bad, but it was slow and didn't accomplish much at all. I'm not as interested in what comes next as I should be. Score: 58 Summary: A new group of survivors arrives at the prison and Carl helps them but locks them in a cell. At Woodbury, Rick's group infiltrates the camp and locate Glenn and Maggie. They rescue them and try to escape but Oscar is killed in the ensuing chaos. Michonne waits for the Governor and finds Penny while she waits. She kills Penny and fights the Governor, stabbing his eye with a shard of glass. Andrea arrives so Michonne leaves. The Governor is angry at Merle and puts him in a deathmatch with Daryl, who was captured.
The Good: For the most part, this was a tense and exciting mid-season finale that provided a lot of fun. The assault on Woodbury was enjoyable with a number of fun sequences. I liked the use of flashbangs and smoke grenades as a way for Glenn and Maggie to be safely taken away from Merle. The sequence was shot really nicely and was very tense all the way through. The best parts were everything between Michonne and the Governor. I really liked that Michonne crept into the Governor's chambers and simply sat their waiting. It was pretty cool and was the one badass Michonne moment that I thought worked in terms of her character. The ensuing fight was very gritty and dramatic and was probably the best action drama that I've seen in this show so far. I really liked Michonne's execution of Penny as well. It added some emotion to their scenes as the Governor begged Michonne not to kill her, and it led to that brilliantly gruesome visual of the Governor crying over his dead daughters body with a shard of glass sticking out of his eye. I thought Daryl's conflict was really good. I liked seeing him grappling with saving Glenn and Maggie and talking to Merle. It was a nice extra layer of tension because we couldn't be sure about what choices Daryl would make that could jeopardize the mission. It seemed certain that something would go wrong with the mission to add some more drama and I had suspected that Daryl would be the cause of this. Instead, it was Rick who was the cause. The hallucination of Shane was an interesting choice. While I don't currently see its relevance (see: The Unknown), it does open up for some more interesting story for Rick. The Bad: The big gunfight in the smoke was lame and generic television. I enjoyed the other action scenes because they were creative and tense. Unfortunately, the big gunfight was neither as it was a classic TV gunfight where hundreds of bullets are shot and none seem to hit the mark. Gunfights like these really bother me. Oscar was the only character who died in the episode and it was incredible how little I cared. Next time, develop the characters instead of just killing them for no reason other than "oh look he died". Rick's plan was a bit stupid. I was annoyed by him giving Michonne hell for not knowing where Glenn and Michonne were. How was she supposed to know? Furthermore, the decision to split up was beyond stupid. It seemed like an easy way for all of them to get killed. Even though Michonne had her best scene in this episode, she is still frustrating. Her encounter with Andrea was really bad. The scene was played for emotion but it failed in every way because of how poor Michonne has been as a character. It's frustrating that she doesn't tell Andrea anything to let her know that the Governor is dangerous. Maybe mention the imprisoned Glenn and Maggie, the Governor's head collection or something else to help her understand why the Governor shouldn't be trusted. Instead, Michonne is a terrible friend and leaves Andrea in the hornet's nest. The cliff-hanger was really weak. It was a classic prisoner swap story which isn't particularly interesting to me. I never liked those stories because it always feels like nothing was accomplished from freeing the initial prisoners. I thought it was a poor cliff-hanger to end of the first half season. Last season had a great climactic moment with the walkers in the barn and Sophia's death signifying the end of season 2A. This season failed to replicate the same sense of closure by its halfway point. I thought the new survivor group's story was fine, but it feels like a storyline that should have been introduced in the next episode, not this one. Hershel letting Carl go out to investigate because "his father would do the same" was really awkward. Was Hershel really convinced by that? The Unknown: Who are the new group of survivors? Can we trust them? Where have they been this whole time? What is Axel's backstory? He screams sex offender to me. Best Moment: Michonne and the Governor's fight was brutal and exciting. Character of the Episode: The Governor. Conclusion: This was a relatively fun mid-season finale that provided some quality scenes. However, the episode fails to be special due to a number of flaws and a lack of emotional connection to the events. This half season has been fairly enjoyable so far, but inconsistent. There has been some great episodes and some weaker ones as well. But it is still enjoyable, and I hope that this quality can be maintained for the next 8 episodes. Score: 64 Summary: Merle tortures Glenn in an attempt to discover where the group is. Rick lets Michonne into the prison and she tells him about Woodbury and that Glenn and Maggie were taken. Rick decides to take a group to Woodbury to get them back. The Governor steps in to aid Merle and Maggie gives up the location of the prison. Andrea oversees an experiment that Milton is conducting about walker conscience. Andrea saves his life and Milton realizes that walkers are just monsters.
The Good: This was a really good episode that built up the mid-season finale in exciting ways with three really good stories. The torture scenes ended up being tense and exciting. Merle's vicious beatdown on Glenn was violent, but unlike in "Game of Thrones", the scenes were shot with enough restraint so that I won't ever be tempted to turn off the TV watching those scenes. The walker fight with Glenn was really nicely choreographed as well and I especially liked how Glenn was able to adapt to the situation and survive. But, the best scenes in this story came from The Governor. Watching him threaten Maggie with rape was genuinely unsettling and at times frightening. I was horribly unnerved by it all, but also impressed with the way that The Governor was able to get the information he wanted through threats alone without actually doing anything violent. He simply played his mind games on Maggie so she easily cracked when The Governor threatened Glenn's life. Milton's experiment was really enjoyable. Even though we are well aware that Mr. Coleman won't have any conscience left after he dies, Milton is not. The genius of this scene is how we know exactly what Andrea knows and we end up seeing the entire scene through her eyes. Milton is put in a sympathetic light in this scene because Andrea maturely sympathizes with him instead of shoving her beliefs onto him like so many other characters in this show have done. It's a good way to get us to invest in a new character who is finally getting a bit of a spotlight. I was really happy to see Rick and Carl discussing Lori's death, albeit briefly. After Rick went into hiding for a while, he never really had a chance to speak with Carl. I'm pleased that the show chose to address this and didn't just leave it. The scene did a nice job of showing how Carl has matured following Lori's death with the way that he swallowed his emotions. His character development is pretty unsettling, but it's fitting for the world we have been shown. I also liked that Carl got to name the new baby Judith. It's good to have a name for her now, and I think the idea of Carl naming her after a teacher he had in the old world is a good metaphor for how Judith represents the hope in the group. While the scene at the cabin was essentially filler, I really liked it. I was intrigued by the man living there (see: The Unknown) and I thought he presented a logical threat to demonstrate that Rick is still performing as a capable leader and that he hasn't become soft following Lori's death. I also thought that the use of the man's body to allow the group to sneak away was really clever. The ending was really good. The cliffhanger works really well and leaves me really excited to see the next episode. The Bad: Michonne remains a problem with her impossibly bad communication skills. It's highly unlikely that she wouldn't tell Rick's group everything if she wants them to destroy Woodbury and free Andrea. Surely she would mention both Merle and Andrea. The Unknown: The man in the cabin seemed to be unaware that the world ended. How is that possible? Has he been so isolated for so long that he never noticed? Have walkers never gone to his house before? Or was he just startled or drugged? I was going to put this in The Bad but it's possible there was more to this character than I initially thought. It's left me thinking and is an interesting addition to the story. Best Moment: The Governor threatening to rape Maggie was creepy and it was the scene that elicited the largest reaction from me in a good way. Character of the Episode: Glenn. Conclusion: This was a very good episode that sets up the mid-season finale very well. I look forward to what should be an intense bloodbath next episode. Score: 69 Summary: Rick continues getting phone calls and eventually discovers that they are a hallucination. Glenn and Maggie go out on a supply run. Andrea starts a romantic relationship with the Governor. Merle goes hunting with a group of men to find Michonne. The other men die and Merle determines Michonne is as good as dead. Merle runs into Glenn and Maggie and captures them. He reports to the Governor and tells him Michonne is dead. Daryl finds Carol alive.
The Good: The phone call storyline was excellent. I am extremely pleased that the show is portraying Rick's grief in such detail, giving him two entire episodes to mourn the death of his wife. Andrew Lincoln was phenomenal in this episode and did well to show Rick's declined mental state after he has lost his purpose. The hopelessness that hits him is sad to watch but it's very impactful. Seeing Rick grieving the fact that he couldn't put the group back together is heartbreaking and furthers his story arc as group leader in a new way. There were a few strong character scenes throughout the episode to compliment the Rick scenes as well. Rick and Hershel had a lovely scene as Hershel gets to thank Rick for saving his life. I also like that Hershel clearly notices that Rick is losing it, but has the patience to let Rick grieve and rediscover himself instead of just calling him crazy. Daryl and Carl had a good scene. I liked Daryl's monologue about losing his mother and Carl's emotionless reaction to it was pretty sad. Carl has lost himself after Lori's death, but in a totally different way than Rick. Merle had some nice moments in this episode to let us know that he is still a crazy, murderous bastard despite the Governor helping him find his place in the community. Merle's hunt for Michonne was pretty good aside from one odd moment (see: The Bad). I especially liked the confrontation between Merle and Glenn/Maggie. There was a lot of tension because it was impossible to know what Merle was planning to do with Glenn and Maggie. It was possible that he would simply go with them to see Daryl, but he also could have easily attempted to capture or kill them. Add in Michonne hiding behind the car, and the scene was wildly unpredictable with tons of tension. I thought the pay-off was good too as I could easily buy into Merle outclassing Glenn and Maggie the way he did. The Bad: The discovery of Carol wasn't satisfying at all. The story of her disappearance was pointless in the end and it accomplished nothing. I was annoyed that the writers only allowed Daryl to show some emotion over losing Carol mere moments before he found her. Gargulio's character was highly implausible. The idea that this frightened guy would become a hardened and excited killer was simply ridiculous. The whole transformation was rushed and unconvincing. The Unknown: What is the Governor going to do with Glenn and Maggie? Does he plan to learn where their group is? It's interesting that the Governor wanted Michonne's head and sword to be returned. Was the head for his head collection? It seems that he has more of an attachment to these heads than he lets on. Why is that? How did Michonne find the prison? What does she plan to do when Rick lets her in? Does she want to help Andrea? Glenn and Maggie? Or is she just hoping for a community that is better than Woodbury? Best Moment: Rick's realization that he was hallucinating was sad. His teary admission that he failed to fix the group and keep them together was sad and extremely well performed. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: This was a good episode that I enjoyed. While there wasn't anything that made this great, it was a solid hour of television. Score: 65 Summary: Rick goes back into the prison in a rampage after Lori's death. Daryl and Maggie go on a supply run to get baby formula. Michonne prowls through the Governor's quarters and reclaims her sword. She kills walkers that were being kept in Woodbury. The Governor is displeased with Michonne. Michonne and Andrea try to leave Woodbury and Merle lets them go. Michonne leaves but Andrea stays. The Governor holds a gladiator fight with walkers watching for entertainment which disgusts Andrea. Rick receives a phone call.
The Good: Rick's slaughter after learning of Lori's death was pretty solid. It made sense for his character to bury himself away after losing Lori and shows that her death has had a huge effect on him which will likely change him even more going into the future. At this rate, there may not be much of season 1 Rick left by the end of this season. I liked some of the stuff that happened in Woodbury. The Governor's daughter is an interesting new development. The idea that this character lost his family and is in denial about it is a fresh new look at grief and it helps give another layer to a character who I'm steadily becoming more interested in. This development also helps ask some meaningful questions about the walker research which is going on (see: The Unknown). I thought the idea of a walker gladiator fight was pretty good. I thought the Governor had sound reasoning for including it in there and I think it does a good job of exploring how different kind of cultures and pastimes need to be formed in a post-apocalyptic world. I also think that it's a fair way to get Andrea to be a little unsure about Woodbury as she only views walkers as frightening threats after spending so much time outside of Woodbury. The Bad: Michonne is a big problem for the show. She is portrayed as a protagonist but she is so bad at communicating her emotions and is completely unreasonable, which makes me heavily dislike her. I hate that she is incapable of basic communication with Andrea and she doesn't even try to convince her of how Woodbury is unsafe. She just tells her the place is dangerous with no evidence. Of course Andrea won't listen to that! Worse yet, Michonne proves to be a total jerk as she leaves Andrea inside of what she believes to be a hornet's nest without a second thought. Why should I care about this cold-hearted and stupid person? Furthermore, the show has failed to make Woodbury appear as a villainous location. I don't buy that the place is dangerous because there is nothing that has been presented to me which proves this. So far, the Governor appears to be a string leader of a group he cares about, with the only issues being that the character is clearly at least a little unhinged. That's not bad at all, so I don't know why Michonne is so convinced that these people are dangerous. I'm with Andrea here, Michonne is dumb. I didn't like how heavily they framed the gladiator fight as an inexcusable sin for Woodbury that proves to Andrea how dangerous the place is. Surely Andrea at least slightly understands the Governor's reasoning and doesn't immediately decide that Michonne was right. Additionally, the Governor comes off as a fool for not telling Andrea what was happening beforehand, as something like this would surely be horrific for her if the Governor hadn't mentioned it was staged. The story at the prison was pretty weak. Aside from Rick, the effects of several important characters dying are very minimal. It doesn't feel like the earthshaking event that it seemed like in the previous episode. What hurts the most is how nobody reacted at all to Carol's apparent death. They all just accepted it. Even Daryl, who spent forever hunting down Sophia who they all thought was dead. Why didn't they do the same for Carol? They never found her body. I thought it was hilarious that the show finally decided to give T-Dog some development after he was dead. I was displeased with how carelessly the walkers were handled in this episode. The writers apparently forgot that scratches were fatal as nobody does anything to worry about the scratches throughout the episode, from the Governor getting grabbed by Penny to the gladiator fight scene where the walkers actually grab the guys. Furthermore, I didn't like how careless Merle, Milton and the others were with the walkers they were reigning in. If it were me, I would never do that job unless I was in full riot gear. There were some awkward moments in this episode. The most notable was Carl saying the names of all of those who they lost. It wasn't particularly bad, just weird, and I don't think it had the desired effect. I also wasn't sure what to think of the scene with Rick and the fat walker (see: The Unknown). The Unknown: What was the Governor's list of names for? Why did he write all those lines? Did the Governor actually tame a walker? Was Penny partly tamed by him? That's really interesting. It also adds on to Milton's research on walkers. Did the Governor tame Penny because she knew him when she was alive? Is there actually a more sinister side to Woodbury? There doesn't appear to be so far but I might be wrong. I was very confused by Rick killing the one walker. Was it purely symbolic? Did the walker do something to Lori? Where was Lori's body? Did this walker eat it? What was that phone call at the end? Is somebody else alive in the prison? Is it Carol? Also how is the phone working? Are the generators running somehow? Or is this just a hallucination? Best Moment: Not much to choose from in this episode. I liked Daryl quickly killing the possum for dinner. Character of the Episode: The Governor. Conclusion: This was a fine continuation of the story, but the episode felt shallow with not much depth to it at all. The Woodbury story hasn't been very compelling so an episode centered around it isn't very impressive. Score: 55 Summary: The prisoners appear again and Rick wants to send them on the road. Hershel starts walking around on crutches. Walkers suddenly appear and attack. Lori, Carl and Maggie escape into the tunnels together. T-Dog and Carol escape together but T-Dog is bitten and dies. Carol's fate is unknown. Alarms start blaring and Rick, Daryl and the prisoners go to shut them off. Rick finds Andrew there and the prisoners kill him. Lori has to give birth in the tunnels but it doesn't go well. Maggie is forced to do a C-section and Lori dies in the process. Carl shoots her head. Rick learns of what happens and breaks down.
The Good: This was a great episode that featured some of the show's most powerful and heartbreaking scenes so far. I was pleased by the initial discussion regarding the prisoners. I like that each of the characters got to make different suggestions for what to do based on what we know about them. I like that Rick was willing to listen to them but still follows his gut instincts instead of others when making these decisions. I thought the prisoners came off fairly well too and Oscar's comments regarding Axel's odd attempts to be friendly were pretty funny. Then the episode devolved into chaos. Having the hope from Hershel walking around again being transformed to horror when the walkers attacked was a signature TWD moment. The tension escalated immediately and I was worried that the show would do something shocking by killing Hershel right after he had just recovered. Even though that didn't happen, two other central characters died in this episode which is pretty big. I heavily praise the show for making it feel like anyone can die at any given moment as it has led to these walker attacks having unbelievable amounts of tension. It's impressive that I was still nervous for the characters after T-Dog was bit because there was always the possibility that some other characters would face some extreme consequences. This leads into Lori giving birth in the prison tunnels which was extremely tense. Eventually it became clear that Lori wasn't going to make it, and then the episode took a dark and tragic turn. It's impressive that the show made me feel so much from the death of a character I never liked. Lori's death was powerful because of the impact it had on other characters. Watching Carl witness his mother get cut open and die was brutal and worse was his cold decision to shoot his mom to prevent her from turning. It was a rough experience that succeeded hugely in hitting me hard with the depressing nature of the show. When the baby came out and wasn't making any sounds, I was genuinely afraid that the baby would be a stillborn and that Lori died for nothing. It was a horrific moment to watch and had me completely engaged the entire time. But horror isn't enough to provide compelling television. We need some emotional engagement for it to really stick. And we got the emotional engagement through Rick, a character we do care about. Rick's reaction to Lori's death was heartbreaking, stemming from a terrific performance by Andrew Lincoln who conveys Rick's sadness really well. The scene made me genuinely feel sad and I really felt bad for Rick after everything he did to keep Lori safe in the prison. I really like the detail that Andrew is the one who caused this chaos. This makes it so it was Rick's decision to not outright murder Andrew that indirectly caused his wife's death. It wasn't because he lost himself to the world and became too dark, but rather he didn't go far enough to save Lori. It's a distressing story to tell and sets up Rick's character very nicely for change during the rest of the season. I thought the Woodbury scenes were solid. I continue to like the Governor and the way he manipulates people. We got to see him manipulate Andrea and Merle in different ways that allows him to get what he wants for his community. While there are clearly hints of him being downright evil, he has been portrayed as a smart man who is willing to do whatever he needs to for his people. I liked Merle and Andrea's scene as well. The dialogue was good and I like how they touched on the fact that both of them were left behind by Rick's group. The Bad: There were a few small issues I had with the walker assault. First of all, they appeared far too quickly for it to be realistic. It was a good reveal, but it made little sense. Furthermore, Maggie taking Lori into the depths of the prison was a bit dumb. Hershel and Beth stayed outside the prion, so why didn't they? It would have been much smarter. The death of T-Dog wasn't very impactful since we hardly knew him. Had he been given more character development in the show, the moment could have been much better. I wasn't pleased by Daryl's lack of reaction to Carol's apparent death. Surely he would have at least a small reaction. Michonne continues to be bland. If she really wants Andrea to leave, why doesn't she just tell her that she thinks The Governor killed the military people? That should certainly help Andrea open her eyes to what Michonne believes is really going on. The Unknown: Will Merle go find Daryl anyways? He doesn't seem like the kind of person to just listen. What happened to Carol? Is she dead or still surviving? How will Rick and Carl take Lori's death? How will that affect their characters? Best Moment: Rick's reaction to Lori's death was extremely effective at making me feel something for him. Character of the Episode: Lori. Conclusion: This episode was very strong with good developments and some riveting moments. Some of the scenes here were the best that the show has ever done making this one of the show's better episodes. Score: 72 Summary: Andrea and Michonne see a helicopter crash and investigate. A group comes by and the two hide but they are found by Merle. The two are taken to a community called Woodbury which is run by a man called The Governor. Both women are distrustful but The Governor convinces them to stay for a little bit. There is a survivor from the helicopter crash who leads The Governor to his group of survivors. The Governor kills all of them and takes their supplies.
The Good: This was solid for the most part. It may not have been the most exciting episode to watch (see: The Bad), but the direction that the show has chosen to go is potentially extremely interesting. I thought the scene at the site of the helicopter crash was very tense, and was the most exciting moment of the episode. I was on the edge of my seat as I was nervous that The Governor's group would discover Michonne and Andrea while also being nervous that Andrea and Michonne would do something rash since they weren't aware that everyone is infected. The ending reveal of Merle being with the group was terrific and got me pretty excited for the upcoming scenes in the episode. The reintroduction of Merle was well done and his character remains as vile and obtuse as ever, which is a certain improvement on most of the other bland characters in this show. The new characters were pretty solid too, with the highlight being The Governor. I thought David Morrissey was a good casting choice and he helped bring The Governor's complexity to light. Evidently, The Governor appears to be a sort of mirror for Rick who is another man doing his best to lead his people. But like Rick, The Governor is still living in this world and is forced to make tough choices, like the one to kill the military group to take all of their supplies. I like that The Governor has been portrayed as a grey character, and judging by the final scene, he has many more layers to him that we have yet to see. The community of Woodbury is really good. I like that the show is exploring the potential of a new community being formed in the wreckage of the world. I appreciated the small size of the community, as it felt very realistic and it didn't at all feel like a stretch that this place could exist. It makes sense for survivors to flock to a leader, and The Governor happened to be placed in charge of this community. I was pleased to learn that the walkers don't need to eat. I hope that Milton can be used to provide us some more information about walkers in the future. The Bad: This show still struggles with its characters. We have known Andrea for over 2 seasons and yet she hardly has a character. Spending an hour with an underdeveloped character like her is really dull and that hurt my enjoyment of this episode. The show also failed to meaningfully develop anyone aside from The Governor which meant that there was no character journey to make this episode a little more enjoyable. I tend to really enjoy episodes which focus on one single character and storyline, but there needs to be an emotional journey for the episode to succeed. Michonne's character was awful in this episode. We hardly know her, so this was the opportune time for us to get more acquainted with her and so we can care for her character. yet we only get one scene to characterize her which hardly tells us anything about her. So far, she is boring, unimaginative and dull. That can't be the result of a character who just had an entire episode to grow and develop. Her decision to not trust The Governor is totally unearned. Why doesn't she just agree to sit around for one day to figure out more? Surely she is smart enough to understand that if he was going to kill them, they would already be dead. The Unknown: I see some huge potential for this story. The idea that there are characters in two different communities being developed can be a really good one and it can lead to some complex emotions if both groups come into conflict. But I'm nervous that The Governor will simply be portrayed as evil for the sake of it which will sacrifice these emotions. Also, I don't trust this show to have capable enough character development to make this story work, which is a red flag. With 16 episodes in the season, I hope to see better character development, but these first three episodes haven't delivered in that regard. Let's hope for the best with this story. What other secrets are there in Woodbury? What else is The Governor hiding? What happened to his family? Why does he keep a collection of walker heads? Best Moment: Merle's return was a delightful moment. Character of the Episode: The Governor. Conclusion: This episode did a good job of introducing a new community and that was interesting. Unfortunately it didn't do much else and lacked in character development which made this a rather dull hour to watch. I like the direction this episode went, but the actual episode left a lot to be desired. Score: 57 Summary: Rick and co. return to the cell block with Hershel. The prisoners follow them and reveal that they have missed the entire outbreak after being locked in a cafeteria. Rick negotiates with them and agrees to help them clear out a cell block. The leader of the prisoners, Tomas, tries to kill Rick so Rick kills him and his friend. The other prisoners are allowed to live. Hershel wakes up and is alive.
The Good: I enjoyed most of this episode. It was pretty fun and continued the exciting pace of season 3, even though it had major flaws (see: The Bad). I liked the opening moments of the episode. The quick and efficient way that Rick's group dealt with Hershel losing blood and the prisoners was excellent. The pace was exciting and I liked the desperate mannerisms of the group as they struggled to get back to their cell block. The flippant way they treated the prisoners made sense as the prisoners hardly presented a threat to them and the importance of saving Hershel's life. While I had issues with the nature of the prisoner storyline (see: The Bad), I thought it led to a few terrific moments. I really liked the way that Tomas' violent nature started to slowly become apparent as he became more of a threat. It increased the tension as the episode went on and made the drama between Rick and the prisoners a lot more exciting. I thought Rick's cold murder of Tomas was fantastic and a perfect moment for him, as was him leaving Andrew to die. Rick has been hardened after killing Shane but we never knew how far he has gone. These dual kills showed us exactly how Rick's mind works now and it surprised me in a very good way. With Rick being smarter and more ruthless, it will likely make it tougher to pressure him, meaning that the drama this season should be more enjoyable than the slow and dull drama that occupied much of season 2. The scenes with Lori and Rick were quite good too. Their changed relationship is much better than what we got last season and I think that Lori's lack of likability actually works here by putting us firmly in Rick's corner and making it clear that Lori deserves what happened to her. This in turn makes us sympathize more with Lori by seeing her suffering so much. While I don't like Lori's character yet, this is an effective start to rehabbing her. Hershel's story was very good too. I thought Lauren Cohan was outstanding as she cried over Hershel and told him that he can die and be at peace. The acting carried the scene and brought out some genuine emotion regarding Hershel's relationship with Maggie. I also really enjoy the contrasts with how Maggie and Beth respectively dealt with Hershel's condition. The final moments where Hershel woke up and is alive were very good and I'm glad that we got a little bit of hope in this miserable world to keep the survivors going. We need moments like these for the depressing nature of the story to not get too grating. I liked the idea of Carol practicing surgeries on walker bodies. It was a fittingly grim moment that blends perfectly into the show. The Bad: The idea that the prisoners lived in that cafeteria for a year, not knowing that the world ended is a massive reach which I don't buy at all. It's a stupid idea that removes a lot of credibility from this world. Furthermore, it's frustrating how long it takes Rick and co. to tell the prisoners what happened to the world. It's not interesting and feels like stalling. Also, the dialogue from the prisoners is quite bad and does a very poor job of characterizing them. Yes, even though this season got off to a good start, the show is still failing to do characterization and character development. It's disappointing and I get the sense that the show may still fail to hit the next level without good character work. How dumb was it when the prisoners attacked the walkers? They had been told several times to aim for the heads, yet none of them listened. This was way too unbelievable, especially since every prisoner did this, and since Rick must have told them three or four times to go for the head. Lori is seriously still not watching over Carl. Man, I'm with Carl on this, because Lori really needed to discipline the kid so he wouldn't just go off whenever he feels like it. She is still a terrible parent. Sure she admits to it, but at least make her try to improve her parenting skill. The Unknown: Can we trust the two surviving prisoners? Who was watching Carol from the forest? Is it a new threat? Best Moment: Maggie crying over Hershel was a great scene. Character of the Episode: Maggie. Conclusion: In terms of pacing and excitement, this was a good follow-up to the season premiere. But the prisoner storyline is built on a really weak foundation and fails to provide enough emotion and character development to justify its existence. While this episode doesn't mean that the rest of this season will be poor, it's definitely a worrying sign. Score: 60 Summary: Winter has passed and the group are surviving by going house to house. They come across a prison overrun by walkers. Rick wants to take the field outside and the group is successful in doing so. Rick continues to push forwards and the group find a habitable cell block. Rick continues to push forwards into the depths of the prison with a smaller group. The group is attacked and separated by walkers. Hershel's leg is bitten. The group get back together and find a safe room. Rick amputates Hershel's leg. The group finds survivors in the prison. Andrea and Michonne travel on their own. Andrea isn't well.
The Good: This was an excellent season premiere. This kind of episode is exactly what I've wanted from "The Walking Dead" and it has made for the best episode since the pilot. The opening scene was fantastic. The total silence in which the group did their job was terrific and did a wonderful job of conveying how much better they have become at surviving in this world. The efficient way in which they cleared the house was really fun to watch and there were loads of small moments that I appreciated. Seeing Carl's growth with a gun was great, and I also appreciated him looting the cupboards to see what kind of food he could find. I also liked Daryl with the owl. He finds the owl but instead of appreciating that it wasn't a walker, he quickly kills it so the group could eat it. It's a lovely moment to highlight the change in the group's morals as nobody complains while they eat the owl. Lastly, I loved how quickly the group reacted to the arrival of a herd as they rapidly took the loot they needed, jumped in their cars and drove away. This was such a fun scene to establish a timeskip while also including a lot of intelligent details to make it plausible that this group could survive in this world. Everything after this opening scene lived up to the expectations as well. I really enjoyed the brief planning sequence as it highlighted how cooperative the group is now with no hostilities towards each other. I'm extremely glad that we don't need to deal with more infighting melodrama within the group and hopefully this can lead to proper character development and a more exciting season. Adding on to that was the idea that the group was keeping track of walker herds that they discovered and trying to predict their movements. This was a fantastic detail to let us know that the group was being restricted by walkers throughout the winter with few places to actually go. It makes it more plausible that the group hasn't encountered any other survivors or safe zones if they have been in the same area just looting and pillaging different homes. The taking of the prison was equally excellent. The teamwork that everyone exhibited as they cleared the field was really impressive and the skillful direction made it clear how impressive of a feat it was to just take the field. I appreciates Rick's hungry desire to get more of the prison as he didn't settle on sitting around, forcing the group to push forwards to loot more of the prison. Once again, it was the details which impressed me the most as the group started pushing into the prison. The walkers wearing prison suits and riot gear were really good threats and obstacles for the group, and I really liked seeing them figure out an efficient way to kill them. Furthermore, I loved how Daryl used the walkers' clothing and a dose of logic to decipher that there was likely a breach in the prison wall somewhere in the facility. The details here made this even more impressive to watch. The final five minutes of the episode were fantastic. As tense as everything was before it, the mission inside the depths of the prison hit a new level. The claustrophobic, maze feeling created by the prison created an escalating sense of fear and put me on the edge of my seat in tension. Then Hershel got bit (the walker just sitting silently for so long was pretty contrived but I'll let it slide considering how good the rest of this sequence was). Hershel's bite was a big surprise because I wasn't expecting a major death this early in the season and a bite has been a death sentence in previous seasons. But then we got the epic twist of Rick trying to save Hershel by violently amputating his leg, which was a signature "Walking Dead" moment. There were many signature moments in this episode which made it even better. I appreciate the irony of a prison, the most violent place in a civilized world being viewed as a symbol of hope and safety, and a cell block of all places being a safe sleeping place. I was also grossed out by the idea of Lori's baby killing her from the inside out, which was a horrific and terrifying thought that did a tremendous job of highlighting how scary it would be to just live in a world with walkers, not knowing when you may next be bit. This episode in general made the idea of a zombie apocalypse terrifying again and I greatly appreciate that. As a final note on the taking of the prison, I loved the idea of spray painting arrows so the group can find their way back. As I said before, the details were impressive in this episode. There were some good hints of characterization too which is refreshing. Daryl and Carol's relationship has progressed as the two of them seem more comfortable with each other. Beth and Carl have developed a friendship which is nice. Rick has turned on Lori after what happened at the end of season 2. I can't lie, I was pretty happy about this because of how poorly Lori was presented last season. She does seem to be a little improved this season so we will see if her character can win me over. I was also pleased that Beth and T-Dog got lines and an increased presence in this episode. While there wasn't a ton of character development for them, there are 15 other episodes this season to give them something to do. I hope that the extended season length will lead to more character storylines as opposed to the meaningless arguments we got last season. The few scenes with Andrea and Michonne were good. I'm interested in learning more about Michonne and her relationship with Andrea, and I think there is potential to tell a good story which is isolated from the main storyline. The cliff-hanger was very good as well and excites me for the next episode. It more than did its job. The Bad: It's a shame we didn't get to see more of the group's time on the road. For us, the group only just left the farm an episode ago, so everyone's happiness in the prison didn't really have an emotional impact. I'm also a little disappointed that we didn't see a lot of the development that the characters went through. I've always hated timeskips for that reason. They seem like a lazy way to get characters from point A to point B without showing us any of it. There weren't many things wrong with this episode. The only other things are nitpicks. I would have liked that the group had learned to stab the heads of dead bodies as well as we have seen that walkers have a tendency to lay around for... some reason. Let's hope that the group learns from Hershel's bite and adapts this into their survival strategy. Scratches have been confirmed to still be a threat. If that's the case, it seems stupid that all of these characters aren't wearing full sleeve shirts to protect their skin. Also, the riot gear should really be used more by the group, regardless of what Daryl says. Surely they would at least want to take the gear from the walkers for further use. Again, none of these issues are that big, but seeing that this episode included a lot of excellent details, I would have loved for these things to be addressed too. The Unknown: Who are the men in the prison? How long have they been there? Were they prisoners? Are they a threat to the main group? Will Hershel survive the amputation or will he die? Is he still infected or does an amputation work to save the victims? I noticed Michonne's walkers have no arms and their mouths have been smashed to render them harmless. Does she use them for strategic purposes? Perhaps to help mask her scent from other walkers? Also, does this confirm that walkers don't need to eat to survive? Best Moment: The opening montage is what I'm going with, but there were a number of great moments here to pick from. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: This was a terrific way to start season 3. The episode was tense, fast-paced, exciting to watch and detail-oriented which improves on a lot of my complaints from season 2. If we can get some good character development in the next few episodes, "The Walking Dead" may finally live up to its full potential. This is certainly a step in the right direction. Score: 75 Summary: The walkers descend upon the farm. Everyone fights to save the farm but it is overrun and they all leave in groups. Jimmy and Patricia are killed. Andrea is thought to be dead and ends up left behind. She encounters a woman with a sword. The group meets up at the highway and go off together. Rick starts hunting for a new place and the group starts doubting him. Rick snaps and reveals that he killed Shane. Lori is horrified. Rick also reveals that they are all infected. Rick makes it clear that he is in charge and everyone will have to listen to him.
The Good: I enjoyed this. I thought it was an exciting finale which thankfully allowed the characters to leave the farm in exciting fashion. While I don't think it makes up for the extended time we spent at the farm, it was at least a fun climax to the story. I thought the teaser sequence was well-done and provided a cool origin for the walker herd which descended upon the farm. I like the irony that the helicopter, a symbol of hope for the survivors, ended up bringing death and disaster to the farm, forcing the survivors on the dangerous road once more. The action scenes at the farm were tense and exciting with a greater sense of urgency than any other scene this season. I was at the edge of my seat, enjoying the focused pacing and tension on screen which is a feeling that I hadn't really felt since the season premiere's walker herd. If it weren't for a lot of little inconsistencies which detracted from my experience (see: The Bad), this would have likely been my favourite walker set-piece in the show. The best parts of the episode in my opinion were the moments following the big action scene. The storytelling was really good in these moments. I really liked the idea that somebody would be left behind in all the chaos, so seeing Andrea alone and struggling to escape was a joy for me to watch. It was scary to see her left all alone, running away from walkers. I'm intrigued by this new character with her swords and walkers chained to her (see: The Unknown). Glenn and Maggie had a good moment in the car as Maggie was shell-shocked, driving away from the farm without any idea what to do. I really liked how Glenn took control of the situation and also helped Maggie calm down, finally showing us that Glenn is a strong-willed guy. The story of Glenn has been botched this season as he has been described and portrayed in different ways, but here his storyline came together nicely. Rick's speeches towards the end of the episode were really great. His anger towards the group felt warranted and had some great layers of storytelling. Rick just killed Shane, and expected that maybe now he can lead without having to worry about somebody pitting the group against him. However he sees everyone questioning his decisions anyways, nobody trusts him and everyone seems to be treating him as Shane does. This causes Rick to snap, angry that killing Shane has achieved nothing, and he unleashes his anger, declaring that the group is not a democracy anymore and he will be entirely in charge (a Ricktatorship?). These discussions also led to the big reveal that everyone is infected, which is a very good development. Not only is it a dramatic reveal, but it also helps explain why walkers would be such a threat as anybody who dies will turn into a walker, bite or not. Furthermore, I think the reveal served as a great catalyst for Rick's transformation at the end of the episode, bringing up conflict with everyone is the group, and further increasing the doubt surrounding Rick's leadership. I am beyond happy that the group is back on the road again. The desperation and fear that everyone exhibited while on the road, scared that walkers could attack again was really good. There is a certain vulnerability surrounding the group now that they don't live in a safe haven, and I think it adds a lot of drama and momentum to the show. I hope that we get to see the group on the road for several episodes in season 3. Lastly, I thought that the lingering shot on the message for Sophia was really effective, accentuating the emotion of the group losing the farm. The Bad: I was annoyed that nobody important died in the walker assault. The "big" deaths were Patricia and Jimmy, characters who have said maybe 20 lines between them both. For this to have been a more memorable spectacle fitting of "The Walking Dead", there really should have been more significant character deaths. The actual action had a ton of inconsistencies in it which I am going to list out now. Glenn was in a moving car with a shotgun, yet he somehow gets headshots from quite a distance away with perfect accuracy which is completely unbelievable. Apparently everyone became professional gunslingers off-screen. While on the topic of shotguns, Hershel appeared to have activated the infinite ammo cheat to fire 20-30 rounds from his shotgun without reloading once. Jimmy pulled up to pick up Rick and he apparently left the door unlocked so that walkers could come in and kill him easily. Rick fires a gun right next to Hershel's head to kill a walker, something that should be deafening, yet Hershel hardly reacts to it. Rick, Carl and Hershel leave the farm on foot and somehow reach the highway long before the others who had vehicles, which is ridiculous. Also, Rick's group can outrun the walkers but Andrea is somehow unable to get away safely despite leaving mere minutes after them. These moments detracted from the action and stacked up in annoying ways. One specific moment I want to single out is T-Dog's random idea to go to the coastline. He is so determined to do this, yet I can't recall him mentioning a desire to go east a single time prior to this. Furthermore, T-Dog has had nothing to do this entire season, so this just feels like a failed way to give him something to do. I wish he had an actual story to justify his role in the show a little more. Furthermore, I found T-Dog's sudden decision to go east and declare that they are all alone even though they saw nobody actually die to be unintentionally hysterical. I was laughing when T-Dog declared this which I'm sure wasn't the intended effect of the scene. The most annoying moment in this episode was Lori's reaction to Rick revealing he killed Shane. She seems supportive at first but then Rick reveals that Carl put down walker Shane which horrifies Lori. Then she inexplicably refuses to talk with him for some unknown reason. Oh man. First of all, why is she mad? Is it because he killed Shane? A few episodes ago, Lori was actively telling Rick that Shane was dangerous and insinuated that he had to do something about it, yet she acts like he is evil for killing Shane. This makes no sense. Was it because Carl killed Shane? No chance because that is all Lori's fault for not watching her own son ever. So I'm left puzzled as to why she reacted like this, and I continue to despise Lori's character for not making any sense and being downright unlikable in every scene she is in. The Unknown: So there is definitely a helicopter going around. Where is it going? Whose helicopter is it? Is there a civilized community somewhere? Who is this mysterious woman that Andrea found? Why does she have walkers chained to her? Were they people she once knew? Where do the group go now? What's next for all of them? Best Moment: Rick revealing that they are all infected before he explodes in an angry speech. A great moment of pay-off after Rick's leadership had been questioned for a full season. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: This was a very exciting and enjoyable season finale with some really powerful and memorable moments. But some action inconsistencies and a continued weakness in Lori's character brings down the score, and prevents this episode from being as good as it could have been. Every way to look at it, season 2 was a step down from season 1. The pacing slowed down to a crawl in the first half of the season, and while the back half was better, it still didn't hit the highs of season 1. The slower pace, lowered budget, poor character development and writing inconsistencies didn't help the season at all. However, I still believe it was a good season, and the back half did deliver in a lot of ways. While the first half only really offered two or three good moments, the second half had something memorable happen in every episode. I thought the Randall story and Rick/Shane story provided more momentum and flow than the Sophia story and the farm conflict story did in the first half of the season. In the end, this was a step down, but the show remains enjoyable and I have high hopes for season 3. Score: 68 Summary: Rick decides to cut Randall loose. He and Daryl are supposed to go out but Rick chooses to stay when Shane tells him that Carl needs somebody to talk to. Shane takes this opportunity to smuggle Randall into the woods and kill him. When the group discovers Randall is gone, Shane claims that Randall got his gun and escaped. The group go hunting for Randall. Rick pairs up with Shane. Shane plans to kill Rick but struggles to go through with it. Rick waits for an opening and then kills Shane. Carl sees this. Shane comes back as a walker so Carl shoots and kills him. A nearby herd hears the gunshot and head towards the farm.
The Good: I liked a lot of the set-up scenes. I particularly liked the group planning scenes as everyone came together to discuss the future of the group living on the farm and addressing the difficulties that winter will create. While I'm not sure that the budget will allow the show to do so, I would love to see a zombie apocalypse story in the winter as a fresh change-up. There were some nice character moments too. Glenn and Andrea reminiscing about Dale was solid, if a bit cheesy, and I really liked Hershel kindly giving Lori his bed. His character has went through a very good transformation. Shane's plan to take out Rick was tense and dramatic and it gave the episode some good momentum. I really liked his scene in the barn with Randall as he got to show the extent of his unhinged nature, debating what to do with Randall before coming up with the idea to kill Rick as well. I liked the way he planned to trick Randall into telling him the location of the camp before killing him, but the scene wasn't executed very well (see: The Bad). I also loved that Daryl immediately seemed to figure out that Shane's plan made very little sense, which is consistent since Daryl also figured out that Shane killed Otis. The ending of the episode was pretty good. I thought Rick and Shane's confrontation delivered a strong climax for not only the episode, but also for their entire storyline. Shane committing to killing Rick with his plan was a huge development and I could believe that he's so far gone that he would do this. But better yet was his inability to pull the trigger on the hill, being unable to put away his best friend for good. That made Rick's decision to kill Shane all the more significant and powerful, as he did something that even Shane couldn't do to keep the group safe. Andrew Lincoln's acting was tremendous in this scene and I thought his performance certainly sent it over the edge into greatness for me. The final cliff-hanger was excellent. After spending a whole season on the farm, it looks like there will finally be some hell coming in the season finale. I look forward to seeing what will likely be a huge fight to save the farm. The Bad: This episode had a crazy amount of inconsistencies and weak moments though and that really damages it. First of all, Shane's plan to kill Rick is pretty bad in all honesty and isn't executed well. He decides to trick Randall into believing that he's joining him before killing him. I presumed that he faked this to get Randall to tell him his camp's real location. But this failed because Randall said the camp's location before Shane even expressed a desire to join him! So if he can spill the beans so easily, why didn't he say anything when he was being beaten bloody by Daryl? It's a huge oversight which annoyed me. Furthermore, if it wasn't Shane's intention to get information out of Randall (it's possible), then he should have just killed him in the woods. Additionally, there are so many inconsistencies with the search for Randall. For one, Rick needed to go with Shane alone for Shane's plan to work which is already taking a big gamble. Furthermore, Shane needed to hope that nobody discovered Randall's body, and he clearly didn't bother to hide the body. Hell, he didn't even hide the ties which were binding Randall! Shane does a really poor job of sticking to his plan. One really bad scene was when Lori came to Shane to apologize to him. First of all, why on Earth did she feel the need to do this? It made no sense that she would wait this long to say something to him. Furthermore, a few episodes ago she thought Shane was dangerous. So why would she think it's a good idea to send mixed signals to a dangerous man who tried to kill her husband? It's a shockingly dumb decision for her to talk to him and I can't find any reason for her to do it. It was just a poor scene. There were a lot of weakly executed moments too. Carl killing Rick felt like a comic book moment put to the screen. Carl hasn't shot a bullet before, yet he can shoot Shane perfectly in the head? Plus, Carl just had to make it look like he was going to kill Rick because there needs to be more drama. And apparently Carl can just sneak out whenever he wants even after Dale's death. Is Lori just the worst mom ever? It's a massive plot device. Additionally, how did Carl catch up with Rick and Shane after they left. They left in the evening and it was night by the time Carl found them. And we know that Shane was walking Rick in a random direction, so they weren't really combing the land to find Randall. Furthermore, why wouldn't Shane just take Rick to where he killed Randall and kill him there? Then it would be easy for him to come up with the story that Randall killed Rick before Shane killed him. There are more inconsistencies too, but I can't be bothered to list all of them out. A few inconsistencies can be overlooked, but when they stack up like this it becomes a real problem. T-Dog hardly has any lines this season, yet the writers still couldn't resist the fact to give their token black character an "oh hell no". Seriously? The Unknown: How did Shane and Randall come back as walkers without getting bitten? Were they infected somehow? Best Moment: Rick killing Shane was the stand-out moment here and was pretty powerful. Character of the Episode: Shane. Conclusion: This episode was a powerful and exciting climax, but it was executed extremely poorly. A lot of the hard work was undone by bad writing and inconsistent storytelling. While the story has picked up nicely for the season finale, I can't help but feel that this episode was a disappointment. Score: 62 Summary: The consensus is to kill Randall but Dale begs for a day for him to convince others to see reason. He goes to everyone, but they don't listen. The consensus is still to kill Randall. Carl goes rogue and tries to kill a walker. He fails and the walker escapes. Rick goes to kill Randall but is unable to do it when Carl arrives and tells him to do it. Dale walks away on his own but is attacked and killed by the walker that Carl was unable to kill.
The Good: This episode was another one focused on the Randall story, and because of that it felt stronger and more enjoyable. The focus on Randall paid off from the first moment when Daryl was interrogating Randall with violence. It was dramatic and effective, and I enjoyed it. The Randall focus provided a good conflict to examine an important theme: the remains of civilization in an apocalypse. This episode becomes emotionally affecting and memorable because of this exploration and the conclusion it reaches: that civilization is dead. This is such a dark and depressing direction to take the show, and it works for the most part. The exploration stems from Dale who tries to fight for Randall's life. While I had my problems with that, (see: The Bad), I thought it was a solid storyline. I particularly liked that Dale's conversations allowed us to see how a lot of the other characters are dealing with the Randall situation, also giving us insight on where their current morals and relationships lie. I thought this was particularly effective with Daryl and Hershel who both got good lines to make them more likeable and show more of their personality without being annoying. This was much better character development than what was happening in the first half of the season. This does build to a great climax too. I enjoyed the group discussion as everyone felt in character as they discussed, but it never really stood out as a particularly great scene of drama. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't special and at first I was underwhelmed with how simple it was, as it didn't feel like a proper emotional pay-off. But thankfully, the story was much stronger than that. First there was a great scene where Rick finds he can't pull the trigger after he saw what the new world is doing to Carl, which was a strong scene carried by Andrew Lincoln's great performance. It was a good piece of storytelling and it seems to have made Rick pull back on his Shane-like instincts which I imagine will reopen the conflict between him and Shane as Shane has most certainly noticed Rick's current weakness. But then it all led to Dale's death scene at the end. While that scene was flawed as well (see: The Bad), it felt like a huge deal and a significant moment, one which I wasn't expecting. It will likely be a cataclysmic event with a greater significance than Sophia's death since Dale stands for the humanity in the group, yet now he is dead. Carl will already be facing the consequences of his actions now that he has noticed the walker that killed Dale was the one he encountered, so that's already one significant development. I imagine we will be seeing more in the next episode, which will likely build up something big for the season finale. Lastly, I really liked the Glenn and Hershel scene. It was a nice little scene which I appreciated. The Bad: Unfortunately Dale bugging everyone got annoying and repetitive fast. I mentioned how all the other characters got good development, but Dale did not. He was a broken record for the whole episode and I really wish that they had saved his arguments for the big argument scene to make that moment feel more important. Sadly, by making Dale annoying, it also hurt the emotion I felt when he died. Carl's story wasn't very good either. While it is hard to demonstrate what a young kid would feel during an apocalypse, I feel like what we got wasn't very good. For one, it's hard to relate to Carl and sympathize with him, making his story feel very awkward. If I can't get emotionally engaged, the story is already not working. Furthermore, Chandler Riggs isn't doing a good job of playing Carl, and poor acting takes away a lot of the story being told. Also, where the hell are Lori and Rick? Do they never watch their kid ever? Every single episode Carl goes off alone and these two never seem to learn. It's awfully convenient that they are such awful parents and it is already becoming a plot device. What makes this worse is that Rick is presented as a good father, considering the lectures he gives Carl, and yet he doesn't seem to take care of him. It's worse for Lori though who literally does nothing for an entire episode and yet she still can't watch her son for more than 15 seconds. Dale's death wasn't staged very well. He was walking in an open field where he should be able to see and hear everything. There's no way a walker can just sneak up on him like that. Furthermore, I find it tough to believe that the hands of a walker could just rip him open the way that they did. Sure, it was dramatic, gruesome and affecting, but it does stretch believability. This episode was dark, brutal and depressing. While it certainly did do its job of making me feel something, it has left me feeling hopeless and depressed. The problem with this is that I don't care about many of the characters or stories in the show, mostly just a select few. This show has been relying on brutal misery to keep us invested and I don't think that makes for a great TV show. That's how this episode affected me more than anything else, and I don't think that's a good thing because I'm not properly invested in the story. If this keeps up, emotions like these are more than capable of driving me away from a story if I'm not completely invested in what's happening. The Unknown: How will Carl react to Dale's death? What will his guilt be like? He is certainly a very unpredictable character at the moment. What was the significance of Andrea siding with Dale about Randall's fate? What happens to Randall now? I don't imagine that Shane takes too kindly with Rick's decision. Could they be heading towards a huge confrontation in the season finale? Best Moment: Rick choosing not to kill Randall and being forced to face who he has become was a great moment. It was surprisingly subtle and I really enjoyed it. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: This was a big and eventful episode for the show and it has provided the most difficult mixture of good and bad to base a score off of. The episode was memorable and powerful, but was also poorly executed at times and unrelentingly miserable. Its strengths managed to also be its weaknesses and I'm left rather confused by how I feel about the episode and the show as a whole. I do feel more positive emotions than negative ones though, so I will give this episode a solid score, and I hope that the series finds a way to build off of this in a good way. Score: 65 Summary: Rick and Shane go 18 miles out to dump Randall. Rick talks with Shane about what Lori said to him and they make peace. Randall is left but he reveals he knows who Maggie is. Shane tries to kill him but Rick wants to think about it and they end up fighting. Walkers stumble upon them and Shane is cornered. Rick leaves with Randall but comes back to save Shane. Rick and Shane make peace once more but Shane doesn't agree to anything. Beth is suicidal and tries to kill herself but realizes she doesn't want to die.
The Good: This episode was focused and I really appreciate that. Characters were the focal point here and the show has desperately needed that. The conflict with Rick and Shane was the strongest for sure. I really enjoyed their conversations as Rick did what he could to ensure that Shane is no longer a problem. I thought Rick was a great friend here as he raised logical points to both understand Shane and get him reigned in so he isn't such a threat anymore. I also loved that Rick connected Shane shooting Otis to his murders back in "Nebraska", which is a logical way to show that Rick understands Shane's method of living. Better yet was their conversation later as Rick tells Shane that he needs to believe in him, playing off of their argument earlier. The best part of this however was Shane. Shane never agrees to Rick's claims, insinuating that while he may be quiet, he likely isn't just going to lay down and let Rick lead. This was great storytelling and I thought that the metaphor of the walker and the song which played at the end did a great job of highlighting this conflict. I also thought Randall was great in this episode as he did whatever he could to try to survive, but ultimately ended up revealing too much which almost cost him his life, forcing him to change up to begging for them to leave him so he wouldn't die. Randall's fear felt real and added to the episode. The zombie assault was really tense as usual as the show continues to hold its sense that anything can happen. I was excited by the flash-forward early in the episode as it made all of the interactions at the school way tenser because it felt like any little moment could trigger the arrival of the walkers. The fragmented storytelling worked here and it added a different source of tension that we are used to, making this episode stand out even more. The fight between Rick and Shane beforehand was good overall. I love how Randall served as a catalyst to get them fighting and it added to the drama and tension which was already established. There were a lot of nice details as they came to blows and I thought that it was logical that the both of them would end up trading blows after what was said to each other. Furthermore, I love that their conflict extended into the walker assault as Rick nearly left Shane for dead. This show is unpredictable enough that I bought into the idea of Shane dying here which is really good. I also liked the small touch of Rick being smart with killing walkers and Shane following up on this by using the trick himself. It was a good piece of storytelling. The farm story with Beth was fine too. I like the exploration of suicide in this world, as it was better than the brief look with Andrea earlier in the series. I thought the conversations which all of the characters had did well to extend their characterization a little more and making me understand them better, though some of the stuff was flawed (see: The Bad). The Bad: There were several issues with the walker action scene sadly. For one, it's hard to believe that the walkers were just hanging out in the school and couldn't escape until window was broken. Surely they would hear the gunshots and come out. They have the ability to break glass with enough force, this has been seen before. Furthermore, the actual action was pretty weak. The episode had just re-established that scratches are deadly, and yet there are many times where Rick could potentially have been scratched and none of these moments are played for drama, nor are they addressed. That took me out of the action. The rest are all nitpicks. One walker who went after Randall apparently forgot how to use legs which was stupid and awkward as it crawled after him. Lastly, there was one awful sound effect as Rick punched Shane, making it sound like his head was smashed open which was really bad. One or two of these moments are okay, but when they are repeated, it becomes a problem. Lori and Andrea's argument was really dumb, even though it gave us a better understanding of their characters. Lori is impossible for me to like or even sympathize with at this point as she has proven to be a selfish, insulting, and petty woman who does a crap job of parenting her own son. I hate her and I know that's not how I'm supposed to feel about her. Here she comes off totally insensitive and stupid as she attacks Andrea, but I feel like the opposite was intended. The show has done a bad job with its female characters, and having them do laundry while the men do the survival stuff doesn't help with anything. The Unknown: While I thought the opening was effective in this case, I'm not sure that the episode was better with it. While the tension was really good and exciting, I feel that there may have been more tension if we weren't expecting the walker attack. I'm not positive about this though, hence its position in The Unknown. Where has Hershel gone? I almost put this in The Bad as Hershel seems to have vanished completely for the convenience of the plot, but I'll hold out as maybe there will be an answer in the next episode. Best Moment: The walker assault was pretty exciting, but I enjoyed Rick and Shane's second conversation after the assault even more. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: This was another good episode which examined the conflict between Rick and Shane which has been this season's strongest element. While this was certainly flawed and didn't live up to its full potential, I still thought it was very good and the second best episode this season. Score: 69 Summary: Hershel, Glenn and Rick find themselves in a tense shootout with Dave and Tony's friends. They try to escape but are almost killed. Walkers arrive and the others leave allowing the three to leave. The other group leaves a man, Randall behind as he impaled his leg on a spike. Rick rips his leg out and saves him, bringing him back with plans to let him go alive in a week. Shane finds Lori and brings her back. When they get back, Lori learns that Shane killed Otis and Shane's disillusioned love for her grows. Rick's group returns and Shane immediately takes issue with Randall. Lori tells Rick that Shane is dangerous.
The Good: The action sequence throughout the first half of this episode was excellent. The scenes were shot very nicely in the quiet darkness, adding to the tense atmosphere and the sense that our three protagonists were truly trapped. The action scenes were very exciting and were certainly better than most storylines in the first half of the season. I also really liked the moment where Rick spoke up and openly begged the guys to just go on their way. His reasoning was clear and Andrew Lincoln's acting was terrific to ensure that the dialogue felt earnest. It shows us that Rick has struck a fine balance between his colder and kinder sides. The story of Randall is a very good one as well. The actual process of Rick, Hershel and Glenn saving him was super exciting (see: Best Moment) and was a great climactic moment to end the confrontation at the bar. But better yet is the fact that Randall is the next major storyline for the show, and he is much better than Sophia from the first half of the season. The rift in the group about abandoning Sophia wasn't properly explored, but Randall is much more threatening and central to the plot, which makes me hope that we will get more here. What we got in this episode was already really good as Randall's arrival immediately shook the group, especially Shane (unsurprisingly). This also allowed Hershel to get a good moment where he let out his anger towards Shane, telling him to be quiet while also allowing him to stay on the farm. Shane had a terrific episode. He started by bringing Lori back to the farm by logically telling her that Rick was already back, which was both smart and in-character. But the character of Shane gets better as he has a one on one scene with Lori, showing how disillusioned he is and how much he has changed as a person since the apocalypse happened. The scene was genuinely unsettling and creepy, and also added more stakes to the show as it seems likely that Shane may be heading towards his death in the near future. I also really liked the detail that Lori figured out what Shane did with Otis after he lied to her about Rick. It makes Lori appear to be smarter and also continues to build conflict between her and Shane. The final scene with Rick and Lori was good too as Lori essentially laid down everything that Shane has been doing, almost telling Rick that he has to do something big about him. I liked Daryl's outburst as well. While I don't exactly care about him and Carol (see: The Bad), the scene was written well and both characters felt real and had clear motives. Daryl needed to let off some steam after he couldn't save Sophia and Carol didn't want to lose the one other person she has a connection with. The Bad: Lori and the walker early in the episode had no tension. It was obvious that she wouldn't die there so it was hard to be interested. Furthermore, I thought it was stupid that Lori would still keep looking for Rick afterwards. Shane lying to Lori is meant to be another cruel thing he did, but honestly it made so much more sense than everything Lori has done so far. I found myself agreeing with Shane, which I don't think was supposed to happen. Also why didn't more people go looking for Rick? It was night by the time they went to get Lori. Surely Rick would have been back much earlier, so shouldn't people actually have gone. I'm also tired of people going alone in an apocalyptic world. Nobody would do that ever. Some of the character moments felt a little flat in this episode. I still don't care about most of these characters and it still hurts the show overall. The Unknown: Daryl referred to his dad when he ranted to Carol. Is there a bit of history there that we are yet to learn about? Can Randall be trusted? Will there be consequences for Rick taking him or will he just be abandoned? Best Moment: After Randall fell and was left behind, Rick, Hershel and Glenn tried to save him in a tense and terrific scene. The tension was made palpable by the sense that there was limited time until the walkers overrun them. But there was also natural conflict as Rick and Hershel wrestled with their values of human life as they debated on killing him or saving him. It was fascinating, and for such a quick scene, it worked really well. Character of Episode: Shane. Conclusion: This was flawed like everything else but was really good overall and ended up being one of the better episodes this season. Score: 68 Summary: Beth goes into shock after what happened. Hershel goes to a bar to drink. He wants Shane off the farm. Rick goes with Glenn to bring Hershel back. Lori gets impatient and goes herself but gets in a car accident. Rick talks with Hershel who is still upset. Two men, Dave and Tony walk in and want to find a place to stay. Rick doesn't trust them and he ultimately kills both of them.
The Good: This was another slower episode, but this one had more of a purpose as it explored the fallout from Shane's assault on the barn in the previous episode. The pacing worked as we got to explore very different reactions from the three central characters, Rick, Hershel and Shane. Shane's reaction was the least explored, but I still liked it a lot. There is a lot of discussion surrounding Shane's actions and the camp is torn on whether what he did was right. I like this idea as it doesn't paint Shane as just another villain and instead proves that what he is doing is just a harsher way of surviving, and judging by how Rick changes in this episode, it's even possible that Shane is somewhat in the right here. Where he isn't in the right however is with how hot-headed he is as he continues to attack Hershel, evidently not caring about Hershel allowing them to stay on the farm. I liked Hershel's reaction to learning the truth about the walkers. It felt real that he accepted how foolish he was being, and it also helps endear us to him by having him seem less like a moronic and stubborn old man. I enjoyed his arguments with Rick as well as they highlighted his grieving and how angry he is with himself for all of the mistakes he has made and how much he has failed his remaining daughters by hiding the truths of the world from them. Rick's reaction to what happened was terrific as well. He has embraced the darker part of himself a little more after realizing that Sophia was gone the entire time and Shane was right. It opens his eyes and he realizes that he has been a poor leader for wasting so much of the group's time. While Shane certainly isn't the perfect leader, Rick needs to add some of Shane's philosophy to his leadership and by the end of the episode he does exactly that, transforming his character to a more interesting and aggressive leader. The final sequence of the episode was tremendous and was easily the best part of the episode. The show has struggled with character in the past, but drama has never been an issue. This episode featured some of the best tension-based drama yet as Rick converses with Dave and Tony. The presence of guns adds the tension and the obviously crude nature of Dave and Tony proves to us that they can't be allowed on the farm at all. I love the way that Dave and Tony find their way to the truth by exposing Rick and Hershel's on-the-spot lies to get what they want. It was fascinating to watch and featured some of the very best dialogue that the show has ever produced. I also loved that we got to learn more about the rest of the world. I loved hearing about things like the islands which could be safe and Nebraska which just deepens our understanding of the world. The final moments of the episode were great though. The sheer sudden nature of Rick shooting both men in cold blood, undoubtedly murdering them, was a great way to establish his change in character. It was a terrific moment for character as well as drama, making it the perfect climax for the episode. The Bad: Lori is the worst character on the show and I don't like her at all. Here she makes what is probably the stupidest decision ever to go after Rick. To put into perspective how dumb this was, Rick and Glenn didn't even have enough time to reach Hershel, and Lori is already asking people to go after them. Yes, she is so awful she doesn't even do anything herself and only asks others to do her work. Furthermore, she is going after Rick to tell him to bring Hershel back... which is the reason he went out to begin with! So Lori leaving has no purpose whatsoever. And to make matters worse, she actually leaves on her own. She leaves Carl alone and just drives, doesn't even know where she is going because she needs a map, and then she gets into a car accident like a total fool. This is hardly compelling and is frustrating to watch. Then add on the fact that Lori insults Daryl for not wanting to go through with her idiotic plan. Seriously, I don't think you could make a more detestable character if you tried. I don't blame Daryl for getting frustrated at her because I have had enough of her by this point. I don't like how inconsistent the show is with how walkers behave. Apparently Beth's mom wasn't dead as she attacked Beth in this episode, so why was she lying around and not moving? Why and how do walkers do that? Lou didn't just collapse and stop moving, yet Beth's mom did for whatever reason. The Unknown: Dave and Tony said they had a camp. Where is this camp? Will we be seeing them later? Best Moment: The ending sequence was one of the show's best scenes so far. Character of the Episode: Rick. Conclusion: While Lori's stupidity hurts this episode, this was very strong overall and did well to follow up on the major events in the mid-season finale. Score: 68 Summary: Glenn tells everyone about the walkers in the barn and everyone is upset, especially Shane. Rick tries to make peace with Hershel so that his people can stay on the farm. Dale tries to hide the guns from Shane but Shane tracks him down and finds them. Rick helps Hershel bring more walkers to the barn. Shane sees this and freaks out. He arms up everybody and they slaughter all of the walkers in the barn to Hershel and Rick's dismay. Sophia is revealed to have been a walker in the barn the entire time and Rick kills her.
The Good: This was an excellent mid-season finale. The story felt really important here and the scenes had a real sense of urgency to them, unlike all of the previous episodes this season which have felt lackadaisical and almost meaningless at times. This episode picked everything up and the whole episode had a much better flow overall. I've been critical of this show's dependence on one on one conversations this season as I felt they have been too jarring and pretty poor for character development. Thankfully, this episode actually started with everyone together and ended with everyone together, giving the scenes a greater sense of importance due to the change of format from earlier. Furthermore, every conversation had a sense of purpose and felt significant to the story. Rick and Hershel hit a breaking point in the relationship between the two groups so they are forced to settles their differences. Shane and Dale have a tense confrontation to play off of their distaste for each other. Shane and Lori get to discuss the possibility of the baby being Shane's. All of these scenes had a purpose to them and they were also longer scenes, making them fit into the episode much more organically than previous conversation scenes. This change has helped the show a lot and I really hope that these one on one conversations are used more sparingly later in the show. This episode was outstanding for Shane's character. He has a fascinating role in the series as his morals directly oppose the protagonists, yet he isn't treated as a villain, more like a rival. It's been fascinating to see Shane slowly get darker as the series goes on, becoming more willing to make the hard decisions to help the group. What I like most about this development is how Shane is actually proven right by the end of the episode. The walkers are dead and dangerous, even Hershel must agree to that now. Sophia was gone and it was a waste to spend so much time looking for her. By proving Shane right, it seems that the next half of the season may explore Rick being forced to accept Shane's way of doing things a little more as it does seem necessary for survival. The most important part in keeping Shane relatable to us is that we understand why he does everything. And we do get to see that which is very fascinating. We see him getting frustrated by a number of things, so that final ten minute sequence becomes the moment where Shane finally snaps under the pressure. He has had to put up with being hated by Lori and Dale who actively try to stop him, he has to endure Rick making the wrong decisions and now he has to endure Hershel endangering all of the camp. It's frustrating for Shane, so when he sees Rick and Hershel bringing in more walkers to put in the barn, he snaps, leading into a tense and terrific final sequence where he finally gets to make his point (see: Best Moment). As far as specific scenes go, I really enjoyed Dale and Shane's confrontation. It was subtly tense and scary as Shane looked more unhinged and dangerous as ever, and with no witnesses around, you could never be sure about what happens to Dale. But the scene takes off with its great thematic exploration as it looks at the idea of how valuable your humanity really is in a post-apocalyptic world which is a concept I would love to see explored in greater detail. The Bad: A few scenes stood out as not that great, but nothing here was awful. I wasn't a fan of Daryl and Carol's scenes as their relationship seems to have evolved a bit too abruptly for my liking. I also didn't like Glenn and Maggie's scenes as their relationship has evolved in such a ridiculous and unrealistic way. I was also confused by Glenn's explanation about forgetting how dangerous the walkers are which didn't make sense for his character at all. The Unknown: Did Hershel know Sophia was in the barn the entire time? Surely he would have known. Why did he keep it secret from the group? Will Hershel kick the group off the farm in the mid-season premiere? I doubt that he will want to keep them around after what just happened. Best Moment: Those final ten minutes were truly fantastic. As slow as this season has been, it has been trying to tell a story the whole time. The final sequence brought every storyline together and paid it off in such a brilliant way. We got Shane's descent into losing his humanity hit a major point, we had closure on Hershel's argument that walkers are human and we also got to find out what happened to Sophia in a great twist that I wasn't expecting. The scene was a great catharsis and a terrific way to end the season, by closing out every major storyline from the farm which has been stretched out so long. Character of the Episode: Shane. This was his episode all the way through. Conclusion: This was an awesome mid-season finale which was the best episode of the show since its pilot. There was a lot of pay-off here and it nearly makes up for the weaker episodes which preceded this one. As for this half-season, I thought it was disappointing for the most part, especially after such a strong first season. The middle section was stretched out and weak, and the entire run could have likely been condensed into 4 or 5 episodes. However the start and ending were very good and it reminded me that this show has the potential to be something special. Hopefully the next six episodes of the season live up to the potential. Score: 74 Summary: Glenn tries to keep his secrets but ends up telling Dale everything. Lori struggles to deal with her pregnancy and keeps it a secret. She takes abortion pills but throws them up. Rick finds out and isn't pleased but he gets past it. Shane and Andrea go for gun training and Andrea becomes proficient with a gun. They have sex.
The Good: I liked the opening scene. It was creepy and harrowing in the way that this show has begun to specialize in as we got to see the chickens sacrificed to feed the walkers in pretty grim and brutal fashion. It was a good way to start the episode. Glenn's attempts to keep the secrets were pretty entertaining and funny, and it was nice to see an episode called "Secrets" live up to the title. I thought that there was some decent tension from all of these characters keeping secrets. I also really liked Dale who has slowly become a sort of leader as he essentially has three different confrontations where he tries to keep the two groups in balance and all of them were pretty good, particularly the final one with Shane (see: Best Moment). Shane was very good in this episode though. His character is wildly different from everyone else due to his aggressive nature and that adds a lot of potential for conflict. I also like seeing this new gun trainer version of Shane which helps highlight how Shane is able to live with himself after killing Otis, which is by cutting himself off emotionally so he doesn't feel guilt. I felt that his relationship with Andrea was done fairly well and it all organically led to them having sex in the car. The Bad: Unfortunately I didn't find this episode to be particularly significant. There doesn't seem to be a sense of importance to many things in this season. Take what I just praised, Andrea and Shane, and you realize that this episode doesn't seem to have very much of interest to it. While it's nice to see the two characters grow, we still don't understand them very well nor do we understand what significance their relationship has on the overall plot. This removes all of the momentum the series has while the pacing slows and the show feels like it's running in circles and killing time until its mid-season finale in the next episode. The Sophia story has suffered from this too, as her recovery no longer feels important since it has been drawn out for so long and is hardly talked about anymore. The show has lost the only sense of urgency it developed in this season. Also, the show seems incapable of writing female characters. Lori's storyline wasn't good at all and failed to make me like Lori. I understood her dilemma, but it's essentially the same thing being discussed from before about children in a post-apocalyptic world. It's redundant and bland, and it doesn't help that Lori had already conquered the emotion of wanting to just kill children so they don't have to endure this world. It doesn't make me sympathize with her to see her regressing in her character arc to a struggle she already dealt with. Furthermore she is hypocritical and downright awful to Rick, who comes off as sensible. The show has done nothing to make me care for or even like Lori. Worse though is Maggie who continues to flip flop with her emotions even more than Lori who is supposed to be the pregnant one anyways. Maggie is like a child with how she instinctively reacts to everything with no thought and only emotion, making her feel miscast or miswritten. I didn't like her verbal attack on Lori at all as it did nothing to make me understand Maggie more than I do already, and her claims that Glenn is a leader came off completely wrong and difficult to believe. The biggest offense this show is making right now however is in how dull it is to watch. When you watch other shows such as "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones", there is visual beauty in every episode and how its constructed. Be it the cinematography, acting, directing, and more, those shows always stood out with the elegant nature of the show. This show completely fails at all of that. With the exclusion of the brilliant makeup, this show is really dull to watch. The first season didn't have this problem as there were always numerous breathtaking shots and moments, but this season has been painfully bland to watch. I can't recall a single memorable shot from these last few episodes. It's like there is very little care for making scenes look good and we only seem to get generic shots and transitions which feel jarring. It stands out even more in slower episodes like this one where not a whole lot happens. The Unknown: What is with Hershel's belief that walkers are sick? Surely he must have seen one of them die before coming back. It is an interesting standing on walkers though and I'm certainly curious to see how this will create conflict within the group. Best Moment: Shane threatening Dale was the most tense and dramatic this episode got. Shane has been the best part of this season by far and has remained compelling. Character of the Episode: Shane. Conclusion: This episode was a very middling one. Some good things and some bad things. However the show does have a greater problem where it is failing to progress the story along satisfyingly. We need this to be fixed immediately so that the show can start living up to its potential like in season 1. Score: 56 Summary: Daryl goes out to look for Sophia and finds a clue but he falls off his horse, down a cliff. He has visions of Merle and is able to climb back up. Rick and Shane come into conflict about their differing views. Hershel isn't being told enough about what is going on around the farm. Glenn goes to the barn to have sex with Maggie but discovers that there are walkers inside.
The Good: The Daryl focus was pretty good and helped this episode avoid being a dud. We got to sympathize with him and take a character journey with him, developing him more and allowing us to understand what is truly in Daryl's heart. Now we understand that he's tough and gritty, with a good heart as he doesn't turn on Rick despite his inner ramblings with Merle. By having Daryl deal with this struggle and overcome while becoming a better person, we have become invested in his character and this show has finally appeared to crack characterization for one character. The action scenes were pretty good too. I enjoyed the walker action scene not for tension (it's obvious Daryl will escape) but because of how it demonstrated Daryl's grit and ability to fight through whatever is thrown at him. It was a great way to get us to support and like him. The Rick and Shane scenes were really good. They have an interesting dynamic as friends with wildly different methods of survival. I thought that their argument was really good because I could understand both sides and both guys felt like real people arguing about differing opinions. Thankfully this story feels like it has meaning too as this conflict feels important and meaningful with potential ramifications to the story coming when both guys end up blowing up at each other. I wish the other scenes this episode had that same purpose (see: The Bad). I like the ending reveal with the walkers in the barn. It finally gives this season something to increase interest and maybe get the show rolling again. The Bad: Unfortunately a lot of this episode doesn't feel important at all with 95% of it being filler. Nothing here advanced the plot with the exception of the ending reveal. The Hershel, Glenn and Lori storylines don't accomplish anything new from the last episode and that is very poor and showcases how much the show has slowed down, which has not played to any of the show's strengths in the first season. A lot of these pointless storylines aren't good. Glenn and Maggie is pretty dumb because the show is treating Maggie like a 15 year old instead of the adult she is supposed to be. Furthermore, I still have no clue what her character is supposed to be, which makes it tough for me to care for her relationship with Glenn. I don't care much for Hershel's storyline of not being told anything either. It's obviously setting up the fact that he turns on his guests but it's not being done in a logical or interesting way. Lori's story doesn't progress at all and is pretty bland as well. Honestly Daryl's story is pretty much filler too because it doesn't move along the story at all. There was one great dramatic scene where Andrea almost kills Daryl because he wobbled in like a walker. That had serious potential and it actually almost convinced me that Daryl died which is pretty impressive. Unfortunately, the scene was ruined because everyone was idiotic. First of all, it's just one walker which means that they have plenty of time to wait until they kill it, so why not tell Hershel? I hate that the group doesn't care for Hershel except Rick. Do they not realize that he can kick them out if he doesn't like them? Everyone seems foolish for pushing their luck and taking everything for granted which you would think would be the one thing everyone doesn't do seeing that they are in a zombie apocalypse. Additionally, I can't possibly buy Andrea shooting. What does she hope to gain? Why? It's stupid and it better lead into a storyline between Andrea and Daryl or it all becomes pointless drama which accomplishes nothing and only wastes our time. The show is still reliant on these one on one conversation scenes and it's getting tiresome. There needs to be better ways to manage multiple characters. The Unknown: What is Merle's fate? Where is he now? How will Daryl feel towards Andrea shooting him? Will he have hostilities now? Best Moment: I'll go with Daryl cussing out Merle and making it to the top of the cliff. Character of the Episode: Daryl. Conclusion: This was another meandering dud of an episode saved by a good Daryl storyline. The show needs to pick up again because it hasn't capitalized on season one appropriately. Score: 60 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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